1 GOD S WORD AT WORK IN ME 1 THESSALONIANS 2:13-16 SERMON For the past three weeks I ve been preaching a sermon series on the Bible. The first week I preached from 2 Timothy 3:16-17. Paul tells Timothy and us that God inspired his Word, it s literally, God breathed and thus, we can trust its authority. The second week I spoke from Hebrews 4 which emphasizes the living nature of the Bible. The author of Hebrews describes the Bible as living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. (vs.4) Last week I spoke from Psalm 119 about how the Bible provides directions for living. It serves like a GPS, guiding us to the right path for living life in order to reach the destination God intended for us. Today, we study a passage in 1 st Thessalonians about the Bible. Paul argues in this text that the word he shared with the Thessalonians was not the word of men but the word of God. So, we should accept the Bible as the Word of God not as the word of men. Please turn your bulletin over to the back and you will see the point at the top of the page. Paul started the church in Thessalonica on his second missionary journey, as recorded in Acts, chapter 17. Paul managed to get the church started in Thessalonica in just three weeks! Can you imagine? Jewish trouble makers threatened Paul and his team in Thessalonica so they left in the middle of the night for another Greek town. Though he only stayed for three weeks he managed to start the church. I m reminded of our own church and the time frame required for beginning this church. The Rev. Moses Williams, our founding pastor who looked like Moses, arrived in the Rogue valley on November 1 st, 1857 and managed to start our church in just three weeks time! Our church had our very first worship service on November 22, 1857. Paul wrote the Thessalonians from Corinth, a town in southern Greece, to encourage the Thessalonian Christians. Today, Thessaloniki exists as the second largest city in Greece with over 300,000 residents. On a tour of Turkey and Greece six years ago, Sally and I visited Thessaloniki and its ancient ruins. In the early verses of chapter two Paul described his brief, three week ministry with them. Paul wanted them to understand that he had completely pure motives; he wanted them to come to faith in Christ and grow in their faith! Look in vs.2-4 We had previously suffered and been insulted in Philippi as you know but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in spite of strong opposition. For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives nor are we trying to trick you. On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts. I m reminded of my own motives for serving as your pastor. Why do I serve as a pastor and why have I served you so long? God called me to serve as a pastor and God called me to serve you thirty-one years ago. Did I come to serve this church for money, or fame, for power and control? If you think those were my motives you don t know much about the history of this church or me!
2 I d never even heard of Jacksonville, Oregon before I interviewed for this position. In 1985 this church was barely surviving. The church had nearly closed in the 1970 s. The total annual budget was $40,000 in 1985. I was paid $21,500 for salary and housing in the first year I served this church. Few people in the valley knew of our church, including people who lived in Jacksonville! Much of my task in the early years of my ministry was building the church s selfesteem. You might wonder: why I have stayed for so many years? It s pretty simple: the Lord never led me to leave! It seems every few years we ve experienced a different challenge that requires consistent pastoral leadership. So, the Lord has kept me here as your pastor. My main task has been similar to Paul s which he states in vs.11-12 For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. After Paul commented on his relationship with the Thessalonians he described the way they received the Word of God. Paul wrote in vs. 13 And we also thank God continually because when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe. So Paul described the way the Thessalonians received the Word of God from them. They accepted the Bible as the Word of God not as the word of men. We too should accept the Bible as the Word of God not as the word of men. Accept the Bible as the Word of God not as the word of men! When we accept the Bible as the Word of God, it will affect us! It will result in us 1.Having a grateful heart! Look again in the text in vs.13, at the very first phrase: And we also thank God continually First, Paul uses the plural pronoun, we. Who s we? He s referring to himself and his colleagues in ministry in Corinth. These included Timothy, Silas, Priscilla, Aquila and others. Paul ministered with a team of people! Jesus ministered with twelve disciples, Paul ministered with a team of people. God wants us to minister in teams also. In our church we have prayer teams, Session ministry teams, Deacons, a staff which functions as a team, youth ministry team, children s ministry team, Mexico mission team, a Honduras ministry team. We minister on teams, we minister with other believers! Beware of lone ranger ministry! God wants us to work together with other believers on teams! Paul comments in this verse on the gratitude of people on his team. He wrote, we also thank God continually. Paul had a grateful heart for all that God had done for him and the Thessalonian Christians. Look at further evidence of Paul s gratitude for the Thessalonians in other places in his letters to them: Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances for this is God s will for you in Christ Jesus (1 Thess 5:16-18) We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing. (2 Thessalonians 1:3) But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord because from the very beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth (2 Thess 2:13)
3 Clearly, Paul and his team were grateful for all that God had done for the Thessalonians, for the fact God had called them to follow Him and for the way their faith was growing! When we read the Word of God and put it into practice in our lives, it results in producing more gratitude in our hearts. We become more grateful people! In the Bible we read about God s sacrificial love for us, His grace and mercy and the more we study the stories and lessons of the Bible the more grateful we become! In her book, The Hiding Place, Corrie Ten Boom relates an incident that taught her to always be thankful. She and her sister Betsy had just been transferred to the worst German prison camp they had seen yet, Ravensbruck. On entering the barracks, they found them extremely overcrowded and flea infested. That morning their Scripture reading in 1 Thessalonians had reminded them to rejoice always, pray constantly and give thanks in all circumstances. Betsy told Corrie to stop and thank the Lord for every detail of their new living quarters. Corrie at first flatly refused to give thanks for the fleas but Betsy persisted and Corrie finally succumbed to her pleadings. During the months spent at that camp, they were surprised to find how openly they could hold Bible study and prayer meetings without guard interference. It was not until several months later that they learned the reason the guards would not enter the barracks was because of the fleas! So, accepting the Bible as the Word of God results in a grateful heart, even for fleas and: 2. God working within me to accomplish His purposes. Look at the second part of vs.12: when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe. I want to focus our attention on that last phrase the word of God which is at work in you who believe. Paul s grateful and delighted that the Thessalonians received the Word of God not as the word of men but as it actually is: the word of God! Note the word accepted. This word in the original text means, to eagerly embrace. The idea communicated by Paul seems to be stronger than mere acceptance. They didn t merely accept the word; they embraced the Bible as the Word of God eagerly! We should do likewise! The word of men cannot produce spiritual life. Books written by men and women have limitations; they can communicate information, interesting stories, they can motivate us and challenge us, they can even touch our hearts deeply but they cannot produce spiritual life! I brought with me this morning a biography on John Adams, the second president of the United States. David McCullough wrote this fine book in 2001 and he won the Pulitzer Prize. I learned a lot about John Adams through reading this great book but it didn t produce any spiritual growth in me. Why didn t it produce spiritual growth in me? Because this book wasn t inspired by God! It s the word of men not the word of God!
4 Amos Alonzo Stagg coached the football team at the University of Chicago for four decades. Stagg had studied at Yale University and had planned to become a Presbyterian minister! But, God had other plans for him! For decades during and long after Coach Stagg s heyday you couldn t go far on campus without bumping into his influence. Not only did he lead the University of Chicago to two national titles in 1905 and 1913 but his football legacy includes the huddle, the Statute of Liberty play, the onside kick, the T formation, the end around and the forward pass! In other words, he practically invented football as we know it! But that isn t his true legacy. When he accepted the invitation to coach the University of Chicago football team, he gave the university president an acceptance speech of sorts, saying, After much thought and prayer, I decided that I can best be used for my Master s service in the position you have offered. Notice how Amos Alonzo Stagg prayed about God s will for his life and how God wanted to use him for his kingdom! I m impressed with his selfless, sacrificial attitude! He surrendered his will to God s. He only wanted to do his Master s will! What an example for all of us! When we willingly surrender to God, He can do remarkable things through us! God can do remarkable work through you if you surrender to Him! Amos Alonzo Stagg coached until the age of 98, coaching for 71 years! He died in 1965 at the age of 102. Talk about a life well lived! Finally, accepting the Bible as the word of God will: 3. Help me grow spiritually. Let s look back in our text in vs.14 For you, brothers, became imitators of God s churches in Judea which are in Christ Jesus Note the word imitators. The word in the original text is the word mimetai. What does that word sound like? Mimeo! We used to have mimeograph machines which were copying machines. Paul proceeds to tell the Thessalonians that they imitated or copied the churches in Judea in this way: you suffered from your own countrymen the same things those churches suffered from the Jews who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. Like Jewish Christians in Judea, the Thessalonian Christians suffered for their faith; they endured horrendous treatment by their Jewish countrymen; they too suffered greatly! Paul goes on to comment in vs.15b about the detractors in Thessalonica: They displease God and are hostile to all men in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit. The wrath of God has come upon them at last. We read in Acts 17:5-9 about an example of suffering which occurred among the Christians in Thessalonica. Paul and Silas were staying at a believers home named Jason. Jealous Jews stirred up the people, stormed Jason s house in search of Paul and Silas. They couldn t find Paul and Silas, so they hauled Jason and some others off to city officials. The city officials required Jason and his Christian friends to post bond and they let them go. Later, Jewish agitators followed Paul to Berea and tried to foment trouble.
5 Paul has these examples of suffering on his mind as he wrote the Thessalonians. In these comments about their suffering, Paul wants the Thessalonian Christians to understand that they are growing spiritually. The Thessalonians endured their sufferings like the Jewish Christians in Judea and because of their endurance, Paul thanks God for them. These suffering Christians grew spiritually through their ordeal. Many of you know of our ordeal to build this church campus. Like Paul we faced detractors. We grew spiritually as a result of our struggle! Before we received our Conditional Use Permit in 2003 we stepped out in faith in 2001 to raise the funds that would be required to begin building this campus. I preached from 1 Chronicles 28:10 in which David said to his son Solomon, Consider now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a temple as a sanctuary. Be strong and do the work. God spoke to us in His Word! This verse of scripture inspired us in the midst of our ordeal to do the work God intended for us to do, to build this campus! God blessed our efforts and this step of faith! He provided the permit, the financial resources, and the wisdom to build a practical yet beautiful campus. Today, we are debt free. This campus has been paid for by the grace of God. Through the whole ordeal we grew spiritually. God s Word at work in us! How is God s Word at work in you today? Accept the Bible as the Word of God, not as the word of men. When you do you will have a grateful heart, God will work within you to accomplish His purposes and you will grow spiritually. Let us pray.