Remembering You
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Remembering You
Remembering You
Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers;
Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;
Paul is writing to those in Thessalonica on his 2nd missionary journeys.
It was a rough start as Paul encountered great opposition during the beginning days of this trip!
Paul & Barnabas were ministering in Antioch of Syria - Paul was led to move on and Barnabas wanted to take Timothy but Paul opposed him so they split Paul taking Silas with him through Syria to Cilicia to Derebe and Lystra where he met a young man Timothy who joined the team
Traveling by the direction of the Holy Spirit they end up in Troas where Paul has a vision to go to Macedonia. They leave immediately and end up in Philippi where they meet Lydia. There, a woman is delivered from a demonic spirit and it upsets here masters who are making money off of her gift. Paul and the team are beaten and jailed leading to the conversion of the Philippian jailer.
With the fresh wounds of the beating they depart the city heading for Thessalonica
From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.
In the city it was a very short ministry - 3 Sabbath days
Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews:
And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,
Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.
Of course this is where we are told that the disciples had turned the world upside down for Christ!
But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.
And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also;
Once again Pul and the team flee city by night to Berea where they found an acceptance to the Gospel, but the men of Thessalonica came there and stirred up trouble and Paul is sent to Athens for a rest.
There he finds the statue to the unknown God and demonstrates one of the most unique approaches of using the culture to present Christ!
From there he is off to Corinth where he stays for the next 1 1/2 years of ministry
This is the backdrop of the letter to the church!
We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers;
Paul begins by reminding them of his great love for them and lifting them daily
He knows the persecution that they face and truly desires to encourage them the “stay the course”
Look what he points out about them:
Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;
The work of Faith - The word work in the Greek means to expend energy with great zeal in contract to idleness! It means to be involved with “useful activity” not “useless busy-ness”
It is the word used to describe a journeyman learning their trade! It is an active word carrying with it the notion of “chasing” the goal!
I love this one - “moved by a burden because of the necessary means of life”
The Word of God is critical not only to our Spiritual growth but to life itself! It is more necessary than the trade we practice fueling our lives!
It is also used in terms of military acts of heroism! An action of real value and worth!
These “acts of heroism” or “life sustaining activities” are being fueled, not by a desire for fame and fortune but rather they are a result of the inner working of faith in our lives!
Boot camp isn’t easiest thing but produces men and women that understand that what is at stake is more important than their own lives!
What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?
If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food,
and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?
Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!
But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?
You see “YOU” are the vessel that God wants to use!
And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
Next he mentions the motivation for the work of faith in their lives: Love
The word labor here is the Greek word meaning “a state of discomfort or distress”
Literally from the word meaning a state of being resulting from beating; weariness, exertion or trouble - a tense of strenuous effort - of a solider in battle or the exertion of physical labor
From the root word ponos meaning the strenuous wrestling of a hero! AMEN
It is different than the exercise of mental exertion
It is an activity that brings weariness but continues because of a deep seated love
The best example is of course Jesus on the cross - bearing the sins of man until the cup of forgiveness was full!
Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.”
And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.
Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,
To wear oneself out! Have you worn yourself out in pursuit of love and the preaching of the Gospel? Is there a burning desire to give it all and hear those words, “well done my good and faithful servant?
Now is not the time to play it safe! There is too much at stake but do you really care?
Life is filled with oppressive labor and sorrow overflowing with empty promises of success only for many to realize at deaths door they were fooled by the glitter of the gold!
Isn’t it interesting that this “Labor of Love” can be fulfilled without fear or becoming tiered of sacrifice?
Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength.
Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall,
But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.
If our motivation is a love for Him, then all the sacrifice and activity will not wear us out!
Why - the patience of Hope
Hope sustains us and is built on the promise of God, not on the empty claims of a success coach or get-rich-quick scheme
The great hymn says,
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly lean on Jesus' name
On Christ the solid rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground is sinking sand
When darkness veils his lovely face
I rest on His unchanging grace
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil
His oath, his covenant, his blood
Supports me in the 'whelming flood
When all around my soul gives way
He then is all my hope and stay
You see, Paul said,
And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
My friends I plead with you today to walk in Faith, hope and love
One thing is for sure…one day you are going to put off this immortal and put on immortality. What will be your condition?
Will you recall all the “if i would have only”?
I am not saying that we should not be wise with what God has put into our hands, but I am saying that many are walking in fear and not trusting God with the future!
For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
Today we eagerly wait for the hope of Righteousness
Step out of the boat and walk on the water!
Peter had a choice, be overwhelmed by the storm or fix his gaze upon the Savior and get out of the boat!