Centered on and Suffering for God's Word

1 Thess 2:13-14 “And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers. For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews,”

As a reminder, Paul and his missionary companions had to leave Thessalonica early on and move on to another location because if increased persecution from some of the Thessalonians. They were wondering how they were doing and recieved testimony that they were a thriving community in Christ. There are several things we can learn from this community which Paul mentions here.

Paul says, “And we also thank God constantly for this. . .” Paul’s attitude toward this group is one of thanksgiving. Their thanksgiving is directed toward God whom they recognize to be the ultimate end of this praise. We all innately recognize this feeling, I would argue that it is something present from being made in the image of God. It was recorded somewhere that an Atheist standing at the precipice of an immense and immaculate view said he had a feeling of gratefulness. For the Atheist, this feeling of gratitude is worthless.

You see a true and consistent Atheist has to believe certain things about the origin of himself and the view that is so mind-boggling. If an intelligent being did not create these beauties, then both him and the view came into existence by chance and an very large amount of time. His own existence is left up to chance just as much as the universe around him. The consistent Atheist is also an materialist, this means he believes all that really exists is material things. In that case, we don’t have a soul, for example. A consistent Atheist believes that the thing we call “consciousness” is really just made up of the physical chemical reactions in our brain. The consistent Atheist believes there’s no such thing as free will because our actions and desires cannot come from anywhere else other than our bodily chemistry of which we have no control over. The consistent Atheist believes all our bodily chemistry was already determined within the big bang. As one Atheist, Richard Dawkins, puts it, ““DNA neither cares nor knows. DNA just is. And we dance to its music.” So the gratitude that an Atheist might feel, according to their own conviction, is no different that the heartburn he feels after eating an especially greasy cheese burger. In their view, we’re just a bag of chemicals. Now try to develop a meaningful human experience out of that! You can’t! Because we’re not made for that!

And of course we may find disgust at the fact that our own gratitude is merely a chemical reaction; but how often I myself live like God does not exist. You realize that everything that is in our life, God has put there for a reason. And if you are in Christ, everything God does for you is for your good. Whether he chastens our sins or prospers our ways, God is good and we can be grateful.

God established his church to proclaim his word.

But Paul is grateful to God for something in particular. He goes on to say, “that when you recieved the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word from men but as what it really is, the word of God.”

I was pondering in my head when I was meditating on this passage some things we may say that we are grateful for in various churches. If someone on social media was writing a review for our church, what kind of things do you think they would list that they are thankful for?

If we took a poll of families around our area and asked, not just about our church, but their church, “Why are you grateful for your church?” What kind of answers do you think we would receive?

I, sadly did not take a poll, but I could imagine that it would focus on what our culture focuses on. Our culture is a therapeutic culture. We believe the key to happiness is some inner sense of being fulfilled. A lot of times we bring this into our church as well.

“I’m grateful for my church because it gives me a since of belonging.”

“I’m grateful for my church because when I leave I feel encouraged.”

“I’m grateful for my church because they were there when I was going through hard times.”

“I’m grateful for my church because I can slip in when no one notices and be entertained by what’s going on the stage”

“I’m grateful for my church because it makes me feel like my relationship with God is okay.”

“I’m grateful for my church because it accepts me for who I am”

“I’m grateful for my church because it gives me an opportunity to serve”

On and on the list could go, right? I’m not listing these things because the are de facto wrong. There is truth and goodness in everyone of these things. The problem is that when we begin to believe that we can be fulfilled by the things the church provides rather than solely in God.

Let’s look at this from another angle: Why did God establish the church? Did God establish the church to meet our inward psychological needs? Did he put together these believers to exist as large group therapy sessions to meet our selfish inner fulfillment needs? Did God establish the church so that we could feel like we’re apart of something bigger than ourselves?

We’ve gotten some idea in our culture that we humans are all the same. We all have something lacking inside that needs to be met. And that Christians have one answer to fulfill that inner need. And churches advertise this way all the time. Let me read you some:

“We aren’t settling for religion, we’re going for romance”

“Each Sunday at blank church you can expect great music, encouraging messages, and a family type atmosphere, each of which paves the way for genuine encounters with our God. The church should never be a place where you’re bored to tears, but instead a place that is filled with excitement about our God and His plan for the people of the earth.”

Y’all remember those “I’m a Mormon” ads that were popular for a little while? They would have people share their heartfelt story about themselves, and essentially explain how their felt needs were met through the Mormon church. By the way, if you don’t know, these stopped because the Mormon prophet recieved word from beyond that they have to revert to the classic name, LDS saint rather than Mormon.

Here’s another church slogan meant to get you going, “live better, help often, wonder more.” Doesn’t that sound fulfilling? Can you guess where it comes from? It comes from an Atheist/Agnostic church called the Sunday Assembly. That’s right, inconsistent Atheists have gone quite religious, well, not so much religious as it is therapeutic.

Paul does not say that he’s grateful because for this church because they’ve decided to help often or because the feel like all their psychological needs have been met in Jesus. He’s grateful that they’ve accepted God’s Word as God’s word. Again, one of the marks of a healthy church is they accept God’s word.

A lot of people want to tell a pastor how to run their church. I heard advice one time that the people need a series on marriage and a series on finances and a series on parenting every year. Why? Why do you think someone would give that advice? Obviously, they have come to believe that the greatest thing people need is to find fulfillment and satisfaction in their everyday life. Listen carefully: The greatest thing you need is not inner satisfaction, but God himself!

Let me say this carefully. We have this idea that a lost person has some lack in his inner self. And that lack can be filled up by God. Sometimes we call this a “God-sized hole in their heart.”

A lost person hates God! A lost person believes he can live his life on his own. When we start evangelizing with this “God-shaped hole” nonsense, a lot of time what we do is give people a more powerful version of themselves to worship! The lost person thinks, “I need more money” and we say, “if you worship God, your life would be better” So what do they think, “If I worship God, I’ll have more money”

But oftentimes the lie is not so obvious. A lost person might think, “I feel inadequate, my life just doesn’t measure up.” So we tell him, “Hey why don’t you believe in Jesus.” So they think, “Jesus will increase my self-esteem.” And they begin to worship, not the Jesus of the Bible, but a Jesus who tells them how beautiful they are and how much they are worth.

You see, we though idolatry was dead, but psychological idolatry is alive and well and thriving in our land. I’m sure you recognize it! You know exactly who the people are who go to church, not to hear God’s word preached, or worship and serve their creator, but rather they go to church to feel better about themselves. I know because sometimes that’s me! Sometimes I’m so focused on feeling better about myself that I leave the sermon or the worship in song disappointed because it was so God-centered. Do you hear the idolatry? If I’m disappointed in something being God-centered, then something else other than God is the center of my life!

Do we receive and accept God’s word, or do we look for something else in church to fulfill our lives?

This, by the way, is why protestants placed the pulpit in the center, because they recognized that God’s word was central to who we are. The preaching of God’s word is not a side show, it’s not the part where we get to take a nap during the service, rather it is at the very center, the very heart of what we do.

Let me put this to you negatively again. If we come to church to find fulfillment in our lives apart from God’s word, then we will not be fulfilled they way God wants us to be. God’s word is fulfilling, it is soul-satisfying, it is edifying; but it also roots up sin, tears down idols, rips away selfish desires. When we unleash God’s word, it begins to show us how selfish we really are.

You know, there were various points in my life when I realized how selfish I was. One was when I got married. I used to be a night owl. I would stay up late, hang out with my friends. After I got married, my life did not suddenly transform. I continued on having my friends over, staying up late. And there was my wife, all alone (she had moved up to where I was going to college, because we got married before I graduated). At the time, I did not even see this as being selfish, I was just going on with my life.

Another moment in my life was when I had kids. There are times when I don’t want to have to discipline my kids. One pastor I listened to was strict about giving spankings privately. He believed spanking was the correct form of discipline, but it should never be done in public. So one day, he’s at the grocery store he gets an entire buggy full of groceries and his kid acts up. He leaves the buggy, drives home, disciplines his son, goes back to the store and shops all over again. Having kids can show exactly how selfish you are. My dad wasn’t like that pastor though. If I were acting up in a restaurant, my dad would just tell me he was going to stand me up on the table and give everyone a show.

We could go to a church that has great entertainment value. We could go to a church that has wonderful programs for our kids. We could go to a church that makes us feel welcomed. You know, this is how churches market themselves? Because they want to meet people’s felt needs. But let me give you a warning. If we go to a church that is wonderful at meetings our perceived felt needs, but is soft on God’s Word, how could we know if our felt needs are actually selfish? We never would.

God’s Word does not merely meet our felt needs, it transforms our felt needs, so that we want what God wants.

If we go to church to meet our felt needs, so what? The Mormon does that, the Jehovah’s Witness does that, goodness even the Atheist does that! Church is not meant to meet our needs, but transform them. God’s word works powerfully in order to change what we want and think we need unto what God wants and knows we need.

Notice what Paul says as the result of accepting God’s word, “which is at work in you believers.” And again, all of what Paul is saying here I hope you will see back up everything I have been saying. God’s word is at work in the believers. How is that made known? I may have Googled some “positive sayings” for this. . . Do they believe in themselves now? Are they working for it more than they’re talking about it? Are they making today so awesome that yesterday gets jealous? Do they believe kindness is free so they’re sprinkling it everywhere?

I’m sorry, I have to be frank here, a lot of positivity makes me vomit because its so empty and void. Listen, if the blood of Jesus is not applied to your life, then there’s nothing positive about it! Look at how Paul recognizes God’s word at work in their lives: “For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews”

Paul knows God’s word is at work because they are like the churches he knows to be true churches. He says, “you . . .became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea.” Paul was a part of these churches. He saw the Holy Spirit at work in these churches in miraculous ways.

But what exactly about this church makes it known to Paul that God is at work? It is because they are suffering the same things form their countrymen.

Strong churches face opposition from the world.

You realize there’s a lot of churches out there that face no opposition from the world? Why is that? Because if there’s something uncomfortable in the Bible, some churches feel free to change what they believe. The Bible teaches homosexuality is a sin, the culture says no, so the weak church changes what they believe. Or, the Bible teaches that Jesus is the only way for salvation (John 14:6), the culture says there are many ways, so the weak church also says Jesus is a way to heaven.

There are really only two kinds of denominations out there: those who believe the Bible is God’s Word, inspired by him, and those who don’t.

Matt. 16:18 “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

You realize, as many preachers have pointed out, that “gates” are a defensive structure? If you want to know how much a church takes a stand against the devil take a look at how much opposition it faces from the world. Satan doesn’t take any time with weak churches. In fact, he probably likes the fact that he has churches twisting God’s word, why would he oppose that? That’s Satan’s own method, “Did God really say. . .?”

And this is not just any kind of opposition. Notice what Paul says, “You suffered the same things.” People can suffer from other people for lots of reasons. If you’re a bully on the playground, guess what? No one will want to play with you. It’s not as if the church of Thessalonica are just being mean-spirited, or starting riots, subverting their society, so they are now suffering for it. Rather they are suffering for the cause of Christ.

There is a lot of victim mentality going around nowadays because you can get social credit, (that is people recognize you, think you’re special) simply for being a victim of something. I think the extreme example of that is the Jussie Smollett case where he staged being attacked by Trump supporters in order to appear to be a victim and further the racial tensions going on at the time. In other words, he paid someone to beat him up, got it on camera, so it could seem like he was a victim.

That’s a bit extreme, but we don’t want that to happen to us. Remember when Westboro Baptist Church was going around carrying signs saying God hates homosexuals and they would also protest at funerals of military heroes? Guess what? They began to be attacked by the world. ANd I’m sure they would look at a verse like this and believe they were suffering for Christ.

Godly suffering is when we suffer for the cause of Christ. When we are maligned for affirming what the scripture teaches with kindness and love. If we are in any way selfish, rude, or mean-spirited in affirming what the Bible teaches, we cannot claim to be suffering for Christ. Furthermore, if we do those things, we cause an unnecessary stumbling block because our behaviors do not match our beliefs. May we never let our selfishness turn someone away from Christ.

If we continue to stand on God’s word, we will face opposition form the world.

1 Thess. 2:15-16 “who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved—so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them at last!”

These verses are discussing the Jews from the end of verse 14. I have to speak pastorally for a moment because these verses have been misused several times throughout history to promote anti-semitism, the hatred of the Jewish race. I’m grateful to leave in a cultural context (the evangelical church in the southern united states) who mostly operates in favor of the prosperity of the Jewish race. However, that has not always been the case within various Christian groups. During the black plague, some Christians burned down synagogues to appease God’s wrath. It seems to be another world that could think something so wrong is God’s will. But that world may not be far from some of us.

Notice something about this text:

God’s wrath does not come upon them because of their ethnicity, but because they reject Christ.

It’s not because they are Jewish that God’s wrath is upon them, rather Paul gives an extensive list: this group killed Jesus, the prophets, drove us out, displease God, oppose all mankind. . . God judges and condemns people for their sin, not their ethnicity. Not to say that there is nothing unique about their ethnicity. The Jewish people had the promises, they had the law, they had a special covenant relationship with God.

Furthermore, some of the Jews believed in Christ as Messiah, Paul would not be referring to them. Paul is not calling out an ethnicity, he is calling out a behavior: rejection of Christ. The color of your skin, the size of your nose, anything in your biology or psychological make up, none of those things will ever separate you from God. Sin separates people from God, and especially learning of and rejecting Christ.

Why is this? Because Christ bridged the gap. He lived a perfect and sinless life, as our new head. Where Adam failed, Christ succeeded. He was tempted in every way we were, yet without sin. God made him who knew no sin to be sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Our sin was placed on the cross and died with Christ never to be risen again, unlike our savior who did raise from the dead. Christ did not stay in that tomb, but he defeated the curse of sin: death. He did this so that we too may never taste death and live forevermore with him. This is the gospel. This is the message Paul journeyed across the word to teach. The question for you: Do you proclaim it or do you prevent it? The teaching of our text is clear, if we work against the gospel and reject Christ, we will receive God’s wrath. The outpouring of his judgment for our sins. But if we accept Christ, then he has taken that wrath in our place. In our place condemned he stood.

“Man of Sorrows!” what a name For the Son of God, who came Ruined sinners to reclaim. Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Bearing shame and scoffing rude, In my place condemned He stood; Sealed my pardon with His blood. Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Guilty, vile, and helpless we; Spotless Lamb of God was He; “Full atonement!” can it be? Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Lifted up was He to die; “It is finished!” was His cry; Now in Heav’n exalted high. Hallelujah! What a Savior!

When He comes, our glorious King, All His ransomed home to bring, Then anew His song we’ll sing: Hallelujah! What a Savior!