Sermon Tone Analysis

This morning I want to focus on two questions- mainly this- what brings you personal glory and what brings you personal joy?

What is your glory?

What is your joy?

Now what do I mean by that?

The word glory, in the context of our question, has the idea of praise, honor, or distinction extended by common consent, it is your renown, it is something that secures praise.

So when I ask you what brings you personal glory, I am asking what is it in your life that secures for you personally- praise, honor, or distinction?

Let me illustrate: this year I was privileged enough to shoot the biggest buck of my life.

But you all already know that don’t you?

Why? Because, I never miss an opportunity to take out my phone, open up some pictures, and proudly display the wonderful buck that God allowed me to shoot.

Why do I do that?

Because, most of the time when I show the pictures to people they go, “Ooooh, and Ahhhh.”

And in a sense this animal is bringing me glory- it is securing for me as least a small level of praise, honor, and distinction from other people.

My renown as a bow hunter grows the more other people see my trophy.

Now there is a large pitfall to this scenario- there is a problem when my glory is bound up in how big of a buck I was able to take with my bow this year.

What is it?

There is always, always a bigger buck.

Here I am with my phone, proudly showing my trophy, and someone else pulls out there phone and says, “Look at this one that my friend got, or my relative got.”

And I look at there picture, and now all of a sudden my trophy doesn’t look so great anymore.

And what happens to the glory that I had secured?

It is diminished.

And then by the time next year rolls around, any and all glory is gone because new year new deer.

The pitfall is this- most of the glory that we secure for ourselves is a shallow, hollow, temporary glory.

It is empty because we seek after the wrong kind of glory.

And this leads us back to our question- what is your glory?

And the second is like unto the first, what is your joy?

I can almost guarantee you that when you find one you will also find the other.

If you find the thing that brings you glory more than likely it will be that same thing that also brings you joy!

What is your glory?

What is your joy?

And now that you have started thinking about that, I want to ask an even more important question- What should be our glory and what should be our joy according to the Bible?

According to the Scriptures, what should be the believers glory and joy?

I believe we find the answer to that question in I Thessalonians 2:19-20.

This morning I want to make two observations from this text that will help us determine what God says about our glory and joy.

Observation #1- The glory and joy of the Apostle Paul and his ministry team was centered in the Thessalonian believers.

19 τίς γὰρ ἡμῶν ἐλπὶς ἢ χαρὰ ἢ στέφανος ⸀καυχήσεως

For who/what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting/exultation/rejoicing/glory?

— ἢ οὐχὶ καὶ ὑμεῖς —

Is it not even you,

ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ

in the presence of our Lord Jesus

ἐν τῇ αὐτοῦ παρουσίᾳ*;

At his coming?

20 ὑμεῖς γάρ ἐστε ἡ δόξα ἡμῶν καὶ ἡ χαρά.

For you are (pres, act, ind) our glory and our joy.

τίς- pronoun / what; who

ἐλπὶς- hope, confident expectation about the future.

χαρὰ- joy, (source) anything that causes cheer and dispels gloom.

στέφανος- (crown of rejoicing)- prize / crown, understood as a laurel or crown signifying victory.

⸀καυχήσεως- crown of personal satisfaction- act of taking pride in something- it is the idea of boasting.

A modern day Paul would not pull out his phone and show a picture of a big buck, instead there would be a picture of people like the Thessalonian believers that he was ministering to.

They were Paul’s crown of boasting.

What was the source of Paul’s hope his joy his crown of boasting?

“Are not even you?”

(v.

19) & (v.20)

For you are our glory and our joy.

The glory and joy of the Apostle Paul and his ministry team was centered in the Thessalonian believers.

Why?

Why specifically the Thessalonian believers?

Why does Paul call them his glory and joy?

He leaves out a lot of people in this statement.

He does not include the rest of the unbelievers in Thessalonica.

He leaves out all of the rest of the believers that he has met in Macedonia and Achaia.

He specifically limits his statement to this, You (Thessalonian believers) are our glory and joy.

Why?

The main difference between the Thessalonian believers and the rest of the people in Macedonia and Achaia is that Paul had person gospel centered ministry toward the Thessalonians, who also responded to that gospel ministry, where as the rest of the people did not.

They preached, the Thessalonians believed- and that formed an important relationship- so much so that Paul said I feel like your spiritual mother and father.

What is your glory and what is your joy?

For Paul, his glory and joy was bound up in other people whom he had personally imparted not just the gospel, but his own soul- and people whom had positively responded to the preaching of the gospel.

It was very specifically these kinds of people that became Paul’s glory and joy.

What is your glory and what is your joy?

And tied to that question is this- what should be your glory and what should be your joy according to the Scripture?

And do you need to change some of your priorities.

Do you need to evaluate your life and contemplate what things do you really love, what things captivate your heart, what things extend to you praise, honor, and distinction?

What is it in your life that causes cheer and dispels gloom?

Is it what the Bible says should be your glory and your joy?

Now we have to move on the observation #2.

If we stopped here I think we fundamentally miss what Paul is saying.

There is so much more to this idea of glory and joy.

And in order to flesh this idea out to its fullest capacity I want to present you with two Scriptural ideas that see to fly in the face of what Paul just said.

Paul just said- you Thessalonian believers are our glory and our joy.

Problem #1- Paul expressly stated back in v. 6 that he did NOT seek glory from men.

How can Paul say, we do not seek glory from you (Thessalonians) in v. 6 and then in v. 20 say, you are our glory and joy?

Problem #2- Paul expressly credits the success of his gospel to ministry to the sufficiency of the Word of God.

Why was Paul’s gospel ministry so successful?

Because people received the Word of God, not as the word of men, but for what it really was in truth- they very word of God.

And it was the WORD that effectually worked in people’s hearts that believed.

In other words, Paul is admitting that his success was not because of his own efforts.

Wait a minute, you might be thinking, sure it was the Word of God, but Paul was the one speaking the Word, therefore he gets the credit.

You would be wrong in thinking this way.

How do we know that?

Who does Paul thank in the beginning of the verse?

We thank God without ceasing!

Why?

Because it was all God.

God is the one who took the Word of God and impressed it in the hearts of these people.

God is the one- through His Spirit and through His Word effectually worked in them that believed.

It is all a work of God.

We could say it this way, Paul planted seeds, and Paul watered seeds (but that is the easy part)- GOD brought the increase!

And so we thank God for success in gospel ministry.

And we are entirely dependent upon God to work in peoples hearts.

So, if it is all a work of God- how can Paul say that theses Thessalonian believers are his glory and joy, when it was never Paul that accomplished anything?

If it was all God, how can Paul receive any of the glory?

Do you know what a Rumba is?

It is an automated vacuum cleaner.