Be Who You Say You Are

Introduction

Todd never really like to dance. In fact, he loathed dancing so much that he often jokingly said that he’d rather take a bullet than have to dance. So, every year, since he’d been in high school, when the Valentine’s Day Dance came around, he would always go, but he was careful to always sit on the sidelines being content to watch everyone else make an idiot out of themselves on the dance floor. This year, however, something was different because Todd had been told by his best friend that a girl in class really wanted him to ask her to the dance. Things might have been a little different had Todd not really liked this girl, had he not thought she was really pretty! But, you see, the problem for Todd wasn’t whether or not he thought she was pretty, no, the problem was that this girl really liked to do what Todd hated, she loved to dance! So, the next week at school, with a big lump in his throat, Todd walked up to her and asked if she’d like to go to the dance with him, and of course, she said yes! (Pause) You know, it can be really easy at times to put on a mask and act like somebody we’re not, but when it comes right down to it, we need to be who we say we are because eventually people will find us out, our true colors will shine through. Did you know that this is especially true for believers? In 1 Thessalonians 2:13-20 Paul speaks to it when he writes to the Thessalonians concerning their conversion, and in writing to them he also speaks a word to us today. First, he lets us know in verses 13 to 16 that true believers are marked out by steadfastness and endurance. Then, in verses 17 and 18 he shows how, through steadfastness and endurance a bond is created in the gospel that holds us in fellowship with one another. Lastly, in verses 19 and 20 Paul briefly talks about the reward that comes from being faithful to who we say we are in Christ. Let’s take a look at how steadfastness leads to endurance that produces fellowship in the hope of Jesus’ return.

1 Thessalonians 2:13–20 NKJV

13 For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe. 14 For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus. For you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, just as they did from the Judeans, 15 who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they do not please God and are contrary to all men, 16 forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved, so as always to fill up the measure of their sins; but wrath has come upon them to the uttermost. 17 But we, brethren, having been taken away from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavored more eagerly to see your face with great desire. 18 Therefore we wanted to come to you—even I, Paul, time and again—but Satan hindered us. 19 For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? 20 For you are our glory and joy.

Prayer

Marked by Steadfastness & Endurance

1 Thessalonians 2:13–16 NKJV

13 For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe. 14 For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus. For you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, just as they did from the Judeans, 15 who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they do not please God and are contrary to all men, 16 forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved, so as always to fill up the measure of their sins; but wrath has come upon them to the uttermost.

When you read the Bible, it has a lot to say about the things that mark out a true believer. In fact, Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians presents several marks of a Christian in the first part of chapter 2. He says that believers have been delivered from spiritual death by a spiritual resurrection that causes them to move from a life of disobedience to a life of obedience to Christ. Now, because of this, believers no longer have to fear being under God’s wrath. To prove it, Paul says it’s because they’ve been united with Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Then, to top it all off Paul points out that we, as believers, will ultimately see the incomparable riches of God’s grace throughout the coming ages (Eph. 6:1-7). Now, those are all marks of a true believer, and if that’s you they apply to you today! I especially like that last one, don’t you! Seeing the riches of God’s grace forever sounds pretty amazing if you ask me. But while the marks Paul mentions in his letter to the Ephesians are all true and they all sound amazing, the fact is that there are some things that mark out believers that often come at a price, a high price, and a couple of those are steadfastness and endurance. When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he told them to “be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord …” (1 Cor, 15:58, NKJV). That word “steadfast” means to “stand firm” or “to have sticking power”.

Illustration: When I played high school football, we always started the season with a lot of conditioning. Coach Fox would make us run, and run, and run some more! We ran so much that I didn’t think we were ever going to stop running. I was always amazed at how many guys came out for football at the beginning of the season and ended up quitting, not because of the hitting that went on during practice, but because of the conditioning we did. They just couldn’t seem to take it. But as the season wore on the conditioning did what? It didn’t necessarily lighten up, but it became easier for me to endure because I’d been steadfast and had sticking power through the rough early weeks of the season.

The point here, is that steadfastness builds endurance, and that’s one of the many truths that Paul is pointing us to in verses 13 to 16. You see, he’s thankful because the Thessalonians received God’s Word for what it really is, the truth about the salvation that’s available only in Jesus Christ, and that salvation, he could see, was at work in the lives of the believers at Thessalonica. Paul knew that to be the truth because these believers had become imitators of the churches back in Judea, and guess what? They had been persecuted for their faith too, just like the Thessalonian believers were, and even though the Thessalonians had and likely were being persecuted when Paul wrote, they were holding steadfast to their faith! Do you remember, back in chapter one, Paul said that the Thessalonians “became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia, [their] faith had become known everywhere” (1 Thess. 1:7-8, NIV84). The steadfastness of these Thessalonians was producing the needed endurance for the example they were setting. The author of Hebrews tells us to “… hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, since he who promised is faithful” (Heb. 10:23, CSB). That’s an amazing statement isn’t it, because we can rest assured that if we’re steadfast in our faith, and we are who we say we are, we’ll be supplied with the needed endurance to see us through anything that comes our way, no matter what!

A Bond Leading to Fellowship

1 Thessalonians 2:17–18 NKJV

17 But we, brethren, having been taken away from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavored more eagerly to see your face with great desire. 18 Therefore we wanted to come to you—even I, Paul, time and again—but Satan hindered us.

Illustration: How many of you have heard the old saying, “Birds of a feather, flock together”? That phrase is actually derived from a 16th century English proverb, but simply put, it means that those of like kind can be found in groups. When birds fly south for the winter they gather up into large groups. Most of you have probably noticed that “V” shape, or some other shape that’s made by these large flocks of birds as they migrate south to warmer weather. These shapes are actually called “murmurations” and the reason the birds do it, the reason they get in these large groups based on like kind, is because there’s safety in numbers.[1] When God made these birds, he programmed them, if you will, to do it this way, based on like kind.

In verses 17 and 18 of our text, Paul is pointing us to the fact that we, as believers, have been programmed like that too. We have a bond as brothers and sisters in Christ that leads to fellowship. You see, birds of a feather not only flock together, they are meant to be together. In verse 17 you can see Paul’s heart for friends in Thessalonica when he says that he was “taken away” from them. That word “taken” carries the since of being “forcefully torn away”. You see, Paul had to lead because of the persecution that was taking place, but he desperately wanted at some point to make his way back to visit. In fact, although he was torn away from them, verse 17 lets us know that they remained in his thoughts. You see friends, when we have true Christian fellowship there exists a commonality between us that drives us to want to be together with one another. Have you ever noticed that when you miss church for a couple of weeks you always seem to be picked up and rejuvenated when you come back, and this even when you’ve been on vacation! (Pause) Paul had much in common with the people to whom he was writing. He had suffered just as they had and his steadfastness in the faith had given him endurance along with a longing to once again be with his brothers and sisters in Christ, even though as verse 18 says, Satan had kept him away. *Do you have that same longing to be with your brothers and sister in Christ?

[1] https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/birds-of-a-feather-flock-together.html

The Coming Reward

1 Thessalonians 2:19–20 NKJV

19 For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? 20 For you are our glory and joy.

Sometimes it’s hard to see the end when you’re in the middle of a tough and trying situation. It’s often been said that we’re either going through a period of trial, concluding a period of trial, or entering a period of trial. The fact is that as long as we’re living in the period before the first and second comings of Jesus things are going to be that way, but take heart because the coming reward is beyond anything you can possibly ever imagine. When Paul wrote to Corinth he told them the following, (I like the way the old KJV translates the Apostles words), “Eye hath not seen, not ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” (1 Cor. 2:9, KJV). (Pause) Now, in verses 19 and 20 Paul tell us something really interesting about what’s going to happen when Jesus comes back. He says that he’s going to get to get to do a little boasting, but what’s really interesting here is what he’s going to get to boast about, and where all of the credit really goes from what Paul accomplished throughout his life. Paul says that a big part of his “hope or joy or crown of boasting in the presence of our Lord Jesus at his coming” (CSB) is the very people he’s writing to, the Thessalonians who he led to faith in Christ. But here’s what’s even more amazing, do you know what Paul is actually going to be boasting about? It’s the same thing you and I as believers will boast about; it’s the work of the Christ in us through the Spirit to the glory of God the Father, and part of that, friends, in the here and now is doing our best to be who we say we are. Do you remember earlier when we began, I used the example of a guy named Todd asking that girl to the Valentine’s Day Dance? Well, here’s the point, even though Todd really liked that girl, he could only pretend to know how to dance for so long because when the time came to cut the rug, everybody, including his date, found him out. You and I folks can only cover up who and what we are for so long until the real “us” shines through. Standing steadfast in the trials we go through as followers of Jesus Christ produces endurance that marks us out as true believers, and that should lead us to a bond of fellowship in the gospel with our brothers and sisters in Christ. And that fellowship should point us to the hope found in our Savior who has promised to return one day and set all things right! Are you who you say you are?

Invitation

Prayer