Reception and Rejection

Introduction

Did you know that many people view the Bible as helpful or even good, yet they don’t see it as God’s Word? In fact, many such people completely deny the existence of God! I’m reminded of the modern skeptic who says that the Bible introduces us to many good themes such as living a moral life, treating others with kindness and love, extending grace and mercy to others. The skeptic will say that the Bible is full of good information and values but that’s it. There is nothing supernatural in the contents of Scripture. These people reject God’s Word yet they still take some positives away from it. Other people think of the Bible as being oppressive and outdated and they have a negative outlook on it. What about the Christian, though? What should our reaction be to Scripture? We agree that Scripture has good advice within it. Scripture talks about how to live a moral life. How to forgive others. How to love our enemies. But what is the ultimate story found in Scripture? The story of Jesus Christ! How Jesus Christ came to save sinners. It’s not primarily about us but rather about Jesus. The Bible is not subjective - it is objective. The message of Scripture is not only for some people, it is for all people even if they reject it.

So, the Bible is objective truth and tells us what truly matters in life. What must we do with it, though? As our text outlines tonight, we must not only hear its message but we must also welcome it and believe in it. I pray that you’ve done that and I pray that we would continue to share it’s message with others just as Paul was doing with this church in Thessalonica 2000 years ago.

1 Thessalonians 2:13–16 CSB

13 This is why we constantly thank God, because when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you welcomed it not as a human message, but as it truly is, the word of God, which also works effectively in you who believe. 14 For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of God’s churches in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, since you have also suffered the same things from people of your own country, just as they did from the Jews 15 who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and persecuted us. They displease God and are hostile to everyone, 16 by keeping us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. As a result, they are constantly filling up their sins to the limit, and wrath has overtaken them at last.

What is the Word of God?

Whenever we hear “the word of God” in Scripture we think of several different things. Some people think of Jesus as John talks about in John 1. Others think of the literal words that God told prophets in the past. Others think of the Bible as being the word of God.

Did you know that the Word of God is truth? We know this to be true from passages such as 2 Timothy 3:16 which says that all Scripture is God-breathed. If God says it, it must be true! Ligonier ministries conducted a massive survey about the state of theology in America. They asked dozens of questions to people (Christians and non-Christians alike) and their findings have been published and discussed in depth over the last month. One of the questions was in the form of a statement that asked people to state if they agreed or disagreed with the following declaration: “The Bible, like all sacred writings, contains helpful accounts of ancient myths but is not literally true.” What % of Americans do you think agreed with this statement? Nearly half - 48% of Americans believe that the Bible contains some helpful stories but it is not literally true. Further, another question asked about truth and if it is objective truth or opinion and 54% of people polled said that belief is opinion and not objectively based on truth.

As Christians who believe in the Word of God, we reject such a statement because we know that God’s Word is in fact true. To quote CS Lewis, “Christianity is a statement which, if false, is of no importance, and, if true, of infinite importance. The one thing it cannot be is moderately important.” Either Christianity is true and of infinite importance or it is not true and it is irrelevant. There is no in between!

The Baptist Faith and Message talks about this reality as it notes this in article 1: “The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God’s revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.”

We believe that the word of God, Scripture, is true and a message that we must believe.

3 terms can help us better understand God’s Word: revelation, inspiration and illumination.

Revelation: We see 2 types of revelation in Scripture, general and special. General revelation can be seen in creation. David describes God’s general revelation in Psalm 19 as he notes that the heavens declare the glory of God. We see this in the sunsets, rain showers, mountains and rainbows. We also see in Scripture that there is special revelation. An example of special revelation would be Scripture itself. Everyone see’s and experiences God’s general revelation but not everyone experiences God’s special revelation found exclusively in Scripture. In this regard, God’s Word is also God’s revelation to us and shows us who God is.

Inspiration: Passages like 2 Timothy 3:16 tell us that the Bible is inspired by God. It is not merely the thoughts of human beings, rather these men were inspired by the Holy Spirit as they wrote the verses, chapters and books found in the Bible. Peter notes this in 2 Peter 1

2 Peter 1:21 NASB95

21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

During our Wednesday night Q & A times several months ago we talked about different theories about inspiration. How can we trust God’s Word and how did the Holy Spirit lead the Biblical authors to pen God’s Word? Why is there a difference in what we see in Scripture and what some Charismatics describe as God’s revelation that they’ve received? Have you ever encountered someone who says that they just wish that God would give them a revelation? I’ve met several such people in the past. What do we see in the Bible? We see that God has already given us His word! Look at what Jude says in Jude 3

Jude 3 CSB

3 Dear friends, although I was eager to write you about the salvation we share, I found it necessary to write, appealing to you to contend for the faith that was delivered to the saints once for all.

Paul notes in this passage that the message that this church received was the word of God - He could say this because He received inspiration from the Holy Spirit and wrote what He received. We are beneficiaries of this inspiration whenever we read God’s Word. We have all we need in Scripture!

Illumination: Some people want to say “God told me this or that” but the ultimate thing that we must do as Christians is to evaluate things with Scripture and ask, “What does the Bible say?” God gives us the Holy Spirit so that we can understand His Word - the Holy Spirit helps to illuminate Scripture to us. Our eyes must be opened up to understand Scripture because without the help of the Holy Spirit, the Bible is comprised of fairy tales, cool stories and partial truths. As Christians, though, we know that it is so much more!

What do we see in our text from this church? We see that they received the word of God and they welcomed it. Not only did they hear the message, but they also welcomed it and believed it!

Some questions for us: Do you believe in God’s Word? Do you believe that God’s Word contains some truth or do you believe that God’s Word is true? Do you see the difference in between those two ideas? Like the Thessalonians, let us be people who receive the Word and welcome it as God’s Word.

Did you know that knowing God’s Word is only part of the equation? As Christians, we are supposed to know God’s Word. We know that God’s Word is true, trustworthy and timeless! These are great things and we should long to know more about God’s Word - but simply knowing God’s Word isn’t enough. Just as the Thessalonians, we must welcome and receive it. We must believe God’s Word. What do we see from this church in verse 14? We see that they imitated the church in Judea! Their faith and reception of God’s Word moved them to action. Only God’s Word can bring about this type of life-changing change in a life.

So, what is God’s Word? It is true, trustworthy and, timeless. How do we receive God’s Word? Through God’s revelation found in Scripture and by praying for guidance from the Holy Spirit. What should we do with God’s Word? We should receive it and act upon it. Apply it to our lives and live it out!

Follow the right people

In verses 14-16 we see that this church strove to imitate the church in Judea and they suffered as a result. Whenever they chose to follow Christ, their lives changed and part of that change meant that they would endure suffering of various sorts. As one commentator put it, they were willing to go the distance for Christ - the reason? The power of God at work within them.

We are familiar with some of the persecution that faced the churches in the 1st century thanks to people like Paul and other Jewish leaders who did not like the spread of Christianity. As a result, the early church suffered persecution. Jesus promised this would happen in John 15:18-25 and sure enough, when God makes a promise, it will come to pass.

As we’ve been studying about Biblical Faith during our Sunday morning study of Hebrews 11, we see examples of people who lived out their faith and we are implored to imitate their faith in God. Consider people that you have looked up to in the past. Were these good influences or bad ones? We all follow people - for the church in Thessalonica, they chose to follow the churches in Judea who were faithfully sending out missionaries and teachers throughout the Roman empire. We too should choose to follow good, godly people and leaders. As we follow, we too lead others. The best leaders are normally great followers.

We know that the Gospel message is a light into the darkness and we are called to share that light. With that in mind, we know that not everyone will see the truth and accept it as such. Many people will reject the Gospel - such as the Jews in verse 15 who killed Jesus, persecuted His prophets, displease God and are hostile to everyone. Even though some people reject the Gospel and are violent towards it, we share the Gospel that Jesus Christ came, lived a perfect life and died in our place.

We do this because regardless of our past, background, opinions and feelings, we are without excuse before a holy God and without faith in Jesus Christ we are without hope - we must share this hope with others and follow the example of those who have gone on before us!

Conclusion

The Word of God is powerful but with that power comes opposition. The enemy would love nothing more than for us to not be able to share the Gospel. Because of this, we have to be intentional and prayerful in this process just as Paul and other people were in Scripture. We talk so much in church about accepting Jesus and rightfully so, but we should talk more about following Jesus. We must accept Jesus, and we must follow Jesus. As people who strive to follow Jesus, we must study what Jesus said. This requires us to study Scripture.

The main arc in Scripture is Jesus Christ. Does this mean that every story is about Jesus? No, but it’s all ultimately pointing to Jesus. Because we are followers of Jesus, we must study Scripture. As we grow in our knowledge of God’s Word, though, we must not think that we’ve done enough. We are also commanded to obey what Scripture says.

2 closing questions to ponder:

How can you better study God’s Word?

How can you better apply God’s Word into your daily life?