1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 - Joy In The Waiting

Introduction

Here in this Advent season, as we mark the remembrance of the world waiting for the arrival of Jesus Christ’s birth as a baby in Bethlehem, we have been studying different New Testament passages that help us think about how we should be waiting for Jesus’ Second Coming—not as a baby in a manger, but as a conquering King bringing judgment and righteousness. So we have studied Paul’s introduction to his letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 1:4-9) to see that we have been given grace as we “wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 1:7). And last week we read from 2 Peter 3:8-15 to see that we have been given patience to wait for (and hasten) the coming day of God (2 Peter 3:12).

Here again, in the passage before us to day from the book of 1 Thessalonians, we see again that these verses are connected to the Second Coming—the Second Advent—of Christ:

1 Thessalonians 5:23 ESV

23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So this morning we add to the list of how we are to be waiting for Jesus’ Second Coming—we are to wait in the grace He gives us, we are to wait with patience, and here we see that we are to wait with an attitude of grateful joy:

1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 ESV

16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Now, we can understand that we are filled with God’s grace as we wait for Christ’s return, and we can understand that we are given His patience as we wait—but this is a difficult thing to reconcile with our current moment in our country. Christians are facing a time of unprecedented opposition—the days ahead will be full of hatred, slander and scorn against Christians.

(And let’s not kid ourselves—that is going to be the case no matter how the court cases regarding the election are decided. If they go one way, then the highest levels of our government will be populated with individuals who have already signalled their intention to dismantle the God-given liberties of freedom of religious expression in this nation. But even if the cases go the other way and there is some measure of protection of religious liberty at the Federal Executive level, the hatred and animosity and slanderous attacks on Christians will almost certainly increase as we are blamed for what will be called “stealing” the election.)

No matter what happens tomorrow in the Electoral College vote, you are going to be subjected to an increasingly virulent stream of hatred, slander and scorn for your identity as a Christian. You will not escape it because you live in a backwater county in west-central PA, you will not avoid it because you live in a small town or go to work in a place where everyone thinks like you. You are going to be hated and reviled for being a Christian—going to church will be considered bigoted and ignorant, quoting Bible verses is going to be classified as “hate speech”, and raising your children as Christians is going to be classified as child abuse that can result in having them removed from your custody. (All of these things are currently happening in other parts of the Western world, and it is foolish and irresponsible to refuse to believe that they can and will happen here.)

And what are you commanded by the Scriptures here in these verses to do? “Rejoice always… Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” Christian, while you wait for the appearing of Jesus Christ in glory at His Second Coming, you are to wait with grateful joy for your circumstances.

Now, what does this mean? Does this mean that God wants us to just have a “grin and bear it” attitude? That we are simply to deny how bad things are and pretend that things are really OK? (Like the meme of the dog in a bowler hat sitting in a flame-engulfed house, saying “This is fine...”) Surely that can’t be what God wants from us—God is the God of truth, and He would not call us to act in such a way as to lie about our situation. God would not tell you to act one way when the truth is something else. And so it must be true that we can truly respond with grateful joy in the midst of circumstances such as the ones we find ourselves in today. And so what I want us to see this morning is that

You can endure SLANDER and SCORN for Christ with GRATEFUL JOY

I want us to see three reasons for that grateful joy this morning—three true reasons why you can face the mockery and scorn and hatred and reviling of the coming days with grateful joy. First, you can endure slander and scorn for Christ with grateful joy

I. Because it is the DESIGN of your FATHER (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

Verse 18 says

1 Thessalonians 5:18 ESV

18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

In other words, these things aren’t happening because our nation and our culture hasn’t somehow slipped the leash and is out of God’s control. As we’re fond of observing, Christ hasn’t suddenly slid off the Throne in Heaven, He hasn’t dropped the ball. The words of William Cowper’s hymn, “God Moves in A Mysterious Way” are as true today as they were in the 18th Century:

Ye fearful saints fresh courage take, The clouds you so much dread, Are big with mercy, and shall break, With blessings on your head.

God is utterly in control of the fact that you live in a day when those who name the Name of Christ as their Savior will be hated and ridiculed and shunned. And as we’ve said before, you may not have chosen to live during this time, but

He has CHOSEN you for this (1 Thessalonians 1:4-5)

Turn with me a page back to 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5 (p. 986 in the pew Bible). Earlier in this same letter, Paul writes,

1 Thessalonians 1:4–5 ESV

4 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.

The church in Thessalonica (the capital city of the Roman province of Macedonia) was started by Paul and Silas among the Gentile population (Acts 17-18), but the unbelieving Jewish leaders drove them out after only a few weeks. And so Paul was concerned for their welfare and sent his associate Timothy back to check on them and to encourage them. And one of the things that Paul says to them in his letter is that he knew God had chosen them because of how powerfully the Gospel went to work in their midst. There they were, surrounded by hostile unbelievers who had driven Paul and Silas out—but God had chosen them for just such a time as that, and had given them power in the Holy Spirit to be courageous for Him!

You can endure the slander and scorn of these days because God has chosen you for this! He has hand-picked you for this moment, and that means that

He will EQUIP you for this (1 Thessalonians 1:6)

The scorn and hatred and persecutions that are coming are coming because your Heavenly Father has arranged it. And that means that He will give you everything you need to meet that scorn and slander with grateful joy. Paul says in verse 6 of 1 Thessalonians 1:

1 Thessalonians 1:6 ESV

6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit,

How did they receive the word (the Gospel)? “With much affliction”. And what came with that affliction? “The joy of the Holy Spirit”! Christian, you can endure the slander and hatred and trials of the coming days because it is the design of your Heavenly Father that when you are afflicted for the Gospel’s sake He will give you the joy of His Holy Spirit! There is a kind of joy that only the persecuted know—there is a kind of peace and contentment and happiness that you will only experience in the midst of slander and hatred! You can endure slander and scorn for Christ with grateful joy because it is the design of your Heavenly Father—He has chosen you for this, and He will equip you with joy in it!

Secondly, we are called to “rejoice always” and “give thanks in all circumstances”

II. Because it is a SIGN of your GODLINESS (2 Timothy 3:12)

In 2 Timothy 3:12, Paul writes about his persecutions and sufferings, how the LORD rescued him from all of them, and that

2 Timothy 3:12 ESV

12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,

Think about this for a minute—everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ will be persecuted. Christian, do you want to live a godly life in Christ? This verse doesn’t say that living a godly life in Christ might get you persecuted—it doesn’t say you’ll be susceptible to persecution. It says—as clear as day—that you will be persecuted if you want to live a godly life in Christ.

And so, when persecution comes your way—when slander and scorn and opposition land on you, what does that mean?

It means that you BELONG to CHRIST (John 15:18-19)

As Jesus said to His disciples on the night He was betrayed:

John 15:18–19 ESV

18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

Christian, if you are getting kicked around at work because you are a believer, if you are the butt of the joke because of your faith, if you are excluded, shunned, “cancelled” by the world because you believe the Gospel and call others to believe it, then that is an indication that you don’t belong to the world anymore—you belong to Christ!

You really do have a solid reason to respond with grateful joy to the slander and hatred you experience for being a Christian, because it means that you belong to Christ! And

It means that you are WORTHY of His KINGDOM (2 Thessalonians 1:5; Acts 5:41)

Paul writes earlier in this letter:

2 Thessalonians 1:5 ESV

5 This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering—

This is the same thing that we see in Acts 5:41, when the apostles had been arrested by the Sadducees for their preaching,

Acts 5:41 ESV

41 Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.

And later in Acts when Paul went through Iconium and Lystra and Antioch

Acts 14:22 ESV

22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.

And Peter’s words in his first epistle:

1 Peter 4:12–16 ESV

12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.

Over and over through the New Testament we see that suffering slander, hatred and persecution because you bear the name of Christ is a sign that you are worthy to be part of His Kingdom! Depend on it, Christian, that when you walk through the gates of the Heavenly Jerusalem someday, every person you see there has suffered for the sake of Christ’s Name! To be sure, Peter makes a distinction between suffering for the sake of Christ’s Name and suffering the consequences of our own sin. But we see throughout the New Testament that the slander and scorn and hatred and loss that comes your way in the coming days are things that you can receive with grateful joy because they are proof that you are worthy of the Kingdom of God!

You can endure slander and scorn for Christ with grateful joy, Christian, because it is the design of your Father, it is a sign of your godliness, and

III. Because it is the INCREASE of your REWARD (Matthew 5:11-12)

In 1 Thessalonians 5:16 Paul says “Rejoice always”—even in circumstances of ridicule, scorn, hatred and reviling. Jesus Himself uses the same language in Matthew 5:

Matthew 5:11–12 ESV

11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Back in October, Jodee and I were standing on Liberty Boulevard as part of Life Chain. Hannah and Selah were between us (it was Selah’s first year to participate). As we stood there, a young woman pulled up to the sidewalk, rolled down the passenger window of her car and proceeded to unleash a profanity-laden stream of hatred directed at my 15-year old and my 9-year old, screaming at them about a woman’s right to choose, and how they needed to get a [EXPLETIVE DELETED] life. So you know what we did after that? We went to the Meadows to celebrate!

Because that is what Jesus tells us to do when the world reviles us and utters all manner of evil against us on His account. He says that when they scream in your face and call you a bigot and a homophobe and a misogynist and a racist, go around the corner where nobody can see, and do a little end-zone dance, because they have just unwittingly added another fifty metric tons to your reward in Heaven!

The world around you will threaten you with slander, will “cancel” you and ruin your reputation for your commitment to Christ. But as one old-time evangelist put it, “No sense dying with a good reputation!” When it comes to your acceptance by the world around you, Christian, you are called by God to

EMBRACE the RIGHT kind of BAD reputation

We need to learn how to develop a “scorn-proof” mindset. Make up your mind that every nasty social media attack, every friend that ghosts you, every cuss word thrown in your face, every accusation of racism and bigotry and homophobia, every time you get shut out of a conversation or are silenced in a discussion—make up your mind that these are not threats to you, they are signs that the angels in Heaven are having to build an extension on the storehouse of your reward because it’s bursting the walls again! (And make no mistake—reacting this way to the world’s slander and scorn will get you labeled “arrogant” and “conceited” on top of everything else!)

Make it your aim to think about your reputation in the world the same way Charles Spurgeon did—he said once in a sermon, “I have lost my reputation several times, and would not go across the street to pick it up!” (The Complete Works of C. H. Spurgeon, Volume 36: Sermons 2121-2181). When they threaten to “cancel” you because of your commitment to the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ, make sure to spell out your email address correctly so they get it right!

But there is another side to Jesus’ words in Matthew 5—if we are to embrace the right kind of bad reputation, in the same way we are to

BEWARE the WRONG kind of GOOD reputation (Luke 6:26)

Jesus says in Luke 6:26

Luke 6:26 ESV

26 “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.

If the right kind of bad reputation is a sign of your great reward in Heaven, then the wrong kind of good reputation is a sign that you may be in a great deal of spiritual trouble.

One of the besetting sins of the evangelical church in America today is the desperate desire to have a good reputation in the world. The vast majority of our evangelical celebrities want to be accepted at all the right conferences, to be invited onto all the big talk shows, to have their books endorsed by the New York Times and have politicians invite them to Martha’s vineyard for the weekend. They mumble and stammer when asked what the Bible says about homosexuality, they equivocate on whether or not it’s wrong for a woman to have an abortion, they throw the grace of God overboard and grovel at the feet of the social justice warriors and BLM, asking their forgiveness for the sin of being white.

And God says that their desire to be honored by the world means they won’t be honored by Him:

John 5:44 ESV

44 How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?

But there is no way to come to salvation in Christ without leaving that good reputation behind! The writer of Hebrews says that when we come to Christ we “go to Him outside the camp and bear the reproach He endured” (Heb. 13:13)—take your pick: A good reputation with the world or a good reputation with God. You can’t have both!

Christian, as you are waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, you can respond to the slander and hatred and scorn of this world with grateful joy—it is the design of your Father, it is the sign of your holiness, and it is the increase of your reward.

Look ahead at the days and months and years to come, and there is surely a great deal of scorn, slander, hatred, ridicule and difficulty in store for anyone who stands up for the Name of Jesus Christ and the Gospel. But that’s not a reason to cower and hide and “batten down the hatches”—that’s a reason to give thanks and rejoice always!

God in His infinite grace and providence has decided that you will be part of a generation of American Christians who will receive extraordinary rewards in glory for the slander you receive here in these days! So receive it with grateful joy, for great is your reward!

And if you want no part of Christ because you fear the loss of your good reputation with the world, if you feel like you would “lose” too much if you came to Him in repentance for your sin and received His forgiveness by faith, then enjoy the fruits of that friendship with the world while you may, because “whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4b). And the Day will come when those who have chosen His friendship over the world’s will be “kept blameless, spirit soul and body”, and will meet Him as His friends to receive their reward from His hand for all of the slander they have suffered, and those who have rejected Him in favor of the world’s friendship will be rewarded with the consequences of making Him their enemy—eternal torment away from His presence in Hell.

Friend, you are here this morning listening to this sermon because this is God’s invitation to you to come to Him for His friendship today. Turn away from your sin and come to Him—do not quench the Spirit as He calls you, don’t despise this word that is being spoken to you. He is calling you to Himself, and He is faithful to do everything He has promised—to forgive you, to cleanse you, to take away all of your guilt and shame and rebellion and give you His own righteousness so that you will stand on the Day He returns “sanctified completely”. Are you going to let the scorn of the world that will ridicule you for “getting religion” or “becoming a holy roller” or “being a Jesus freak” keep you away from the salvation He is offering you? Embrace that scorn, say goodbye to your “good reputation” before the world and come—and welcome!—to Jesus Christ!

BENEDICTION

1 Thessalonians 5:23–24 ESV

23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

1 Thessalonians 5:28 ESV

28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

What is your biggest concern about the future of religious liberty in our country? How does knowing that God has chosen you to live in this day and age help you look at the future with confidence?

Read Acts 14:22 again. What does this verse say that the “road” to heaven looks like for a Christian? How does suffering ridicule and scorn for your faith in Christ give you assurance that you really do belong to Him, that your Christian life is not just a fad or passing fancy in your life?

Where are you most tempted to “go along to get along” with the prevailing attitudes and opinions of our day? What keeps you from speaking up when God’s commands for living are openly mocked? How do Jesus’ instructions in Matthew 5:11-12 give you a different perspective on being ridiculed and mocked for being a Christian?

Read 1 Peter 4:12-16 again. What does Peter say about the kind of “bad reputation” Christians should strive for? What are some bad reasons to have a bad reputation? What are some good reasons to have a bad reputation? What can you do this week to embrace the right kind of “bad reputation” with the world?