STUDIES IN I AND II THESSALONIANS
BY GLENN PEASE
INTRODUCTION
These messages are among the first I ever did in my
first full time church. They were preached in the evening service. They do not have
the depth that I would put into them were I doing this study today, but they
are still relevant studies of this portion of what God has revealed to us
through the Apostle Paul.
CONTENTS FOR I THESSALONIANS
1. THE MASTER MOTIVE Based on I Thess. 2:3-4
2. AN APOSTOLIC ATTITUDE Based on I Thess. 2:5-6
3. GOD’S GENTLEMAN
Based on I Thess. 2:7
4. BLAMELESS
BEHAVIOR Based on I Thess. 2:8-12
5. FRUITFUL FRUSTRATION Based on I Thess. 2:13-20
6. THANK GOD IT WORKS Based on I Thess. 2:13
7. FIGHTING GOD
Based on I Thess. 2:14-16
8. SATAN’S HINDRANCE Based on I Thess. 2:17-20
9. APPOINTED TO AFFLICTION Based on I Thess. 3:1-4
10. A STEADFAST FAITH Based on I Thess. 3:5-8
11. THE IMPOSSIBLE IS
INDISPENSABLE I Thess. 3:9‑10
12. DIVINE DIRECTION Based on I
Thess. 3:10-13
13. SANCTIFICATION AND SEX Based on I Thess. 4:1‑8
14. REVOLUTIONARY RESOLUTIONS
Based on I Thess. 4:9-12
15. NO REST FOR THE
RIGHTEOUS Based on I Thess. 5:6-11
16. LEADERSHIP IN THE EARLY
CHURCH I Thess. 5:12-13
17. THANKFUL NO MATTER WHAT! Based on I Thess. 5:18
18. LET THE FIRE BURN Based on I Thess. 5:19
CONTENTS FOR II
THESSALONIANS
2. UNFULFILLED PROPHECIES II THESS. 1:9 TO 2:2
3. THE MAN OF SIN AND THE SECOND COMING. 2:3f
4. THE MAN OF SIN
Based on II THESS. 2:5f
5. THE LAST DAYS
Based on II Thess. 2:7-10
6. THE DAY OF JUDGMENT Based on II Thess. 2:18-f
7. WHEN WITHDRAWAL IS WISE Based on II Thess. 3:1f
1. THE MASTER MOTIVE Based on I Thess. 2:3-4
How
should a Christian defend himself when his character and motives are attacked in
an effort to belittle the Gospel which he proclaims? Paul had to face this question everywhere he went, for the
Judaisers were hot on his trail trying to destroy the fruit of his labors. From the defensive nature of this chapter it
is clear that they had arrived at Thessalonika as well, and they were trying to
discredit the whole revival experience.
You can imagine the subtle attacks they would use to undermine these new
converts and cause them to question.
They
would say something like, “O you say that Paul was the man who got this new
movement going. Isn’t he the man with
the prison record going around stirring up trouble everywhere? He is a brave man doing what he is doing,
but then a man would do almost anything if there is enough money in it. Just get a few good speeches together and
you can make a mint feeding people fancy ideas about religion. I wouldn’t mind starting my own religion
either if I was free, like Paul, to be able to hit and run.” Others would be far less subtle, and they
would just accuse Paul outright of being a religious racketeer out to get all
he could from anyone sucker enough to fall for his deception.
We
need to keep in mind that this was a new thing. Paul appeared on the scene with the Gospel. They believed and then Paul had to move on,
and they had no Bible or long history to fall back on. Attacks like this would be serious. Paul was worried about how they would hold
out under tribulation and these attacks on the one who brought them the
Gospel. In this chapter we see him
defending himself, and we want to look at the two fold approach he uses in his
defense.
I. HE
REJECTS THE FALSE CHARGES.
Paul
just flatly rejects any such charges that he was trying to trick them with
impure motives. Peter likewise had to
defend himself as he wrote, “We have not followed cunningly devised
fables.” Men do not go around defending
themselves unless there is an attack on them, and so these verses reveal the
constant battle the Apostles had with public relations. This has been a major area of conflict
through the ages. Christian schools and
organizations need public relations offices constantly keeping people informed
that the charges against them are false.
In
Paul’s day many false prophets were already active, and as things went on they
got worse. John later says that
anti-Christ is even now already at work in our midst. In such a situation you have counterfeits at large that men can
point to as examples of falsehood and deceit.
Paul could do what many evangelists since could not do. The whole profession of evangelism has been
given a black eye by the false and deceitful methods by which some get
decisions. Paul used no such methods,
and yet he was of the greatest success.
He respected people and did not take them for fools. There were no tricks when Paul
preached. He presented the Gospel in
its simplicity.
We
never read of Paul trying to get hands up and then pressuring those people to
come forward. Paul believed in the
sovereignty of God when it comes to evangelism. You do your best and let the Holy Spirit do the rest. This is why I appreciate Billy Graham. He gives the message and offers those who
want to receive Christ the opportunity to come. There are no tricks or pressure.
If God does not move them there is no point in trying to get a
decision. It is only a Spirit induced
decisionthat is a saving decision.
Knowing that, Paul avoided all appearances of evil. He could say in perfect confidence that he
has rejected all deceit.
Even
if deceit can sometimes get more results, honest dependance upon God is the
only way to go. You might wonder about
what practical value this is to us. I
can’t speak for everyone, but my experience has been that a good many
Christians feel that the end justifies the means. They feel that when it comes to getting a person to decide for
Christ anything goes. I use to think it
was very clever of a student I knew to think up unique ways of witnessing. He would go into a restaurant and sit downby
some man. Then he would have a friend
come in and sit by him. He would begin
to witness to his friend as if he was a stranger, and do so loud enough to make
sure the other man heard.
Such a
method is highly unlikely to be effective, and the whole thing is based on
deceit and the philosophy that the end justifies the means. Since the motive is worthy, it is felt that
deception is legitimate. Scripture says
this is not so. Such a method could
possibly lead someone to respond to the Gospel, but they would find out that
they were involved in a plan of deception, and they or friends would accuse us
of being fanatics and deceivers. We
would in a position of being tempted to carry on further deception, or admit it
and give the unsaved ground to stand on in their charges. We would leave the convert in a very
troubled and dangerous state.
Deception is of the devil, and it cannot play a part in the
communication of the Gospel. Paul knew it
from the start, and with a clear conscience before God he could write to his
converts and reject all such charges as false.
His attitude was like that of the noble who was asked by his King to
practice deceit. His response was, “O
King! Believe me, rather much would I
fall by virtue than rise by guilt to certain victory.”
II. HE
REVEALS HIS TRUE MOTIVE.
We
sometimes think we are pretty sharp with all our studies in modern
psychology. We have learned that the
best way to treat a so-called bad boy, or anyone who has rebelled against the
standards imposed on him, is to take him into your fellowship and confidence
and give him responsibility. God, of
course, did not need to wait for modern psychology to discover this before He
put it into practice. He took the man
who was out to crush the advance of His kingdom and made him chief embassador
for His kingdom. He entrusted Paul with
the Gospel. He went from antagonist to
ambassador, from enemy to emissary, from persecutor to preacher. God not only gives us the gift of salvation,
but He trusts us to carry the gift to others.
This is an amazing fact, for every time a person puts their trust in
Christ, Christ puts His trust in them.
He trusts them to share the good
news with others.
There
is a story that Jesus was asked before His ascension, “What are your plans for
the spread of the Gospel?” “I shall
leave that to my disciples.” “But what
if they fail you?” “I have no other
plans.” Our part in God’s plan is tremendous. He intrusts us with the Gospel, and if we
don’t circulate it, it will be of no more value to others than is the misers
treasure. We are not to be Gospel
collectors, but Gospel communicators.
We are not to be Gospel misers, but Gospel messengers. How can others hear it if we have it but
hoard it?
The
Gospel falls into Aristotle’s category of the undiminished giver. It is of such a character that the more you
give it away the more you have.
Anything material I would share with others would leave me with less,
but to share ideas and truths not only leaves my stock undiminished, but
increases their strength by repetition.
For example, I have an idea right now, and I am the only one here with it. I will share it with you. In verse 4 Paul uses the plural we. He is taking Silas and Timothy in with
himself, and by implication includes all of us who have received the Gospel. I
have now multiplied that idea by as many as are here, but I still have all of
it, and plus it has been more deeply impressed on me for having shared it.
Paul
says that God trusted us with the Gospel, and we are honoring that trust when
we speak it and share it. The reason we
do not use any deceitful means to get it across is that our own master motive is
to please God. Even success through
deceit would not be pleasing to God.
Here is the motive that explains the conduct of Paul, and of all who
give their lives to be used for His glory.
Someone wrote,
Not for the eyes of men may
this day’s work be done,
But unto thee, O God, that with the setting sun,
My heart may know the
matchless prize
Of such approval in your eyes.
With
this as a driving motivation, life takes on a consistency and unity that
nothing else can produce. One author
said, “We found out to our grief that in a world in which anything goes,
everything is soon gone.” When our
master motive is to please God, then only that which is pleasing to Him is
allowable. In verse 1 and 2 we see that
Paul received courage from God for communicating the Gospel, and now we see
that the means must correspond with that end.
Not only is it important to reach people, it is also important how to do
it, for that how must be pleasing to God.
It is
a worthy end to want to support your family, but to sell dope as a means to
attain that end is so unworthy of the end that the whole plan is evil. It is having this master motive of Paul of
desiring in all that we do to please God that keeps our means worthy of the
ends we seek. Without it we cannot tell
a Christian from a non-Christian, for many non-Christians do good deeds, but
they have no desire to please God necessarily.
Their master motive is to please self.
If the Christian does not have the master motive of pleasing God he may
do much good, but the motive is selfish.
T. S. Elliot said, “The last temptation is the greatest treason, to do
the right deed for the wrong reason.”
Most
of our problems as Christians are related to our motives. The reason we often face frustration and
anxiety, just as the world does, its because
we lack a definite conscious of just what we are doing and why. If things don’t go well, we feel like giving
up, but Paul didn’t, and neither would we if we were constantly conscious that
the purpose for which we do anything is primarily to please God. It pleases God that we study His Word, and
so we should be doing so constantly, even if it is difficult, and we do not
always grasp its meaning.
This is
the secret of Paul’s constant drive, for even with all of his trials and
frustrations, he could rejoice in the Lord always because his master motive was
to please God. George A. Coe in his
book The Motives Of Men wrote, “The disillusionment that creeps over 20th century man concerns, not the ability of the
universe to supply what he desires, but his own capacity for really desiring
anything greatly significant.” Only the
person with a master motive greater than life itself can find ultimate
satisfaction and purpose to life. That
is why there is no greater goal for the Christian than to follow Paul in
developing his motive for living as our master motive.
2. AN APOSTOLIC ATTITUDE Based on I Thess. 2:5-6
We have all heard it said that is doesn’t make any
difference what you believe as long as you are sincere. This is true only if what you are talking
about doesn’t make any difference. If
you sincerely believe that white potatoes are better for you than red potatoes
it will not make any great difference if you are right or wrong. If, however, you are as equally sincere in
your belief that rotten potatoes are as good for you as fresh ones, it can have
a great deal of difference on your health.
Whether corn or wheat would be the best crop to raise can be debated by
farmers, and men can have sincere convictions either way, but when it comes to
the matter of the best time to plant-January or April-one might be sincere in
his conviction that January is best, but the consequences will be tragic. The point is, sincerity is only enough when
the question involved has no great significance one way or the other. Are dogs or cats the best pets is a good
example.
If the consequences of our belief are important it is not
enough to be sincere. We must also be
right or suffer the consequences. This
conclusion holds true on the natural level, and is even more significant in the
realm of the spiritual. No body with an
ounce of conviction can believe that sincerity is adequate in our theological
beliefs unless he is willing to conclude that the consequences of being wrong
are insignificant. In other words, are
theological issues on the same level as opinions about red and white
potatoes?
As evangelicals we are ready to say in a moment that
sincerity is not enough, for you can be sincerely wrong. We are so on the defensive against the idea
that sincerity is enough that we neglect the positive truth that though it is
not enough, it is still essential.
Water is not enough to get your clothes clean, but we do not ignore it
on that account. We just add soap. Sincerity is not enough to save us, but
salvation without sincerity is just as inconceivable. Sincerity means being in reality what one appears to be. It means to be genuine and honest in
intention. It is the opposite of
hypocrisy.
Paul in his defense to the Thessalonians stresses the fact
of his sincerity in all areas of his conduct among them. Paul would not have deified sincerity as
Lady Chudleigh did when she wrote,
Sincerity’s my chief
delight;
The darling pleasure of the mind;
Oh, that I could to her
invite,
All the whole race of human kind;
Take her, mortals, she’s
worth more than all your glory,
All your fame,
Then all your glittering
boasted store,
Then all the things that you can name.
She’ll with her bring a joy
divine,
All that’s good, and all that’s fine.
Paul would not give sincerity the place of the Savior, but
he would, no doubt agree with Mencius who said, “There is no greater delight
than to be conscious of sincerity on self-examination.” Paul does just that as he reviews his life
before them and notes 3 specific areas in which sincerity characterized
him.
I. IN THE MATTER OF SPEECH.
v. 5
Almost every man of literature from the ancient Greeks on down
had something to say about the dangers of flattery. The power of words does not depend upon their truth. There is great power in falsehood when that
falsehood is pleasing, or in accord with what people want to hear. Hitler proved that a big lie told often
enough can sway a nation. Flattery
played a part in the first sin, for Satan appealed to Eve’s pride by
suggesting, “Surely you realize you are capable of being like God, knowing good
and evil. Such capacity should not be
held back. Exert yourself and become
the great one that you are.” Eve was
the first, but far from the last, to be flattered into thinking they could
disobey God and come out on top.
Man is an easy target for flattery. Robert McCraken says there are praise
records that tell you how good you are.
Man has such a craving for acceptance and praise that he is capable of
believing anything good said about him.
He does not like flattery as such, but he likes to believe that what is
said about him is simply stating the facts.
The Roman Emperor’s stated Emperor worship just to unite the people, but
some of them got to the point where they believed they deserved worship. The power of positive thinking works even if
it is not true. Because this is the
case, it is a powerful means of persuasion for gaining allegiance.
Paul could have come to the Thessalonians and gained a
greater following if he had flattered the people and told him how truly pious
they were, and that God would certainly welcome such good people as
themselves. But he appeals to their
memory and reminds them that he said no such thing. The implication is that Paul preached that all were sinners, were
lost and the only hope was in Christ who was crucified and risen again. There was no flattery, but just the pure
Gospel that flowed from his tongue. He
never used flattery in his teaching. It
can never be a proper means for any goal in the Christian life, for it means
false, and insincere praise. There is a
true praise, and we ought to exercise it constantly. We ought to express appreciation, but we must avoid trying to
build the kingdom of God by use of insincere speech.
What Shakespeare said of a character in Two Gentlemen Of
Verona fits Paul perfectly, and we need to pray that we fit this description as
well.
“His words are bonds, his
oaths are oracles;
His love sincere, his thoughts immaculate;
His tears pure messengers
sent from his heart;
His heart as far from fraud, as heaven from earth.
II. IN THE MATTER OF SUPPORT.
For Paul, Christianity made good armor, but not to be used
as a cloak. The idea of the cloak gives
the thought of insincerity, or of seeming one thing on the outside, but
underneath the facade, something different.
Let us remember that a number of the upper class received Christ at
Thessalonika, and so the standard charge of Paul’s enemies in such a situation
would naturally be that he comes with all this sweet talk of good news because
he has an eye on your purse strings. He
is out finding lost sheep alright, and the woollier the better, for under his
cloak he carries his shears.
This is as contemporary as today’s paper. You hear every once in a while of someone in
the church who runs away with all the funds, or that people are threatened into
giving. We must be prepared to face
such stories with an answer. We can
point out that it is never proper to judge anything by a poor example. You do not judge a rose by a wilted one, or
the taste of milk from a sour carton.
The folly of men does not take God by surprise. He knew the corruptions that would enter the
church, and that is why He warned in II Peter 2:1-3: “But there were also false
prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive
heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them-bringing swift
destruction on themselves. Many will
follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit
you with stories they have made up.
Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their
destruction has not been sleeping.”
Covetousness and greed cover over with flattering words
would play a large part in the history of the church, and the very fact that it
was known from the start assures us that we need not be shocked, for we are not
ignorant of Satan’s devices. This makes
it all the more important that we be completely sincere in all matters of
financial support. Billy Graham
recognizes this. All evangelists have
been accused of making a haul by preaching the Gospel, and so he publishes his
income in the papers of the cities where he has crusades. He follows Paul’s example of complete
honesty in avoiding all appearance of evil.
There is a fable of the fox who was flattering the crow for
her lovely singing because he wanted what she held in her mouth. If Christians cannot make it plain that this
is not our motive in trying to reach people, we shall fail. The world has evidence galore that this is
the motive of so many who approach them, and so only honest and open sincerity
can convince them that this is not our motive. Only the sincere Christian
really has an offer of this kind to the world.
There are motives of greed to one degree or another in every appeal that
comes to men. Even the salesman who has
a good product and knows it will be for your benefit has another motive besides
concern for you, and that is that there will be gain for himself. But we have the privilege of offering good
news with the power to save without asking any price.
The tragedy of many money making schemes in the churches is
not only that they brainwash people into thinking that the end justifies the
means, but they also convince the world that the end, which is salvation, is
not free at all, and like everything else it is going to cost you. What the world hears is not justification by
faith alone, but justification by faith, plus cash, and especially the
cash. Paul avoided all possibility of
such charges, even if he had to work nights to make a living. He wrote in Acts 20:33, “I have coveted no
man’s silver, or gold, or apparel.” In
II Cor. 12:14 he wrote, “I will not be burdensome to you, for I seek not yours,
but you...” His complete sincerity in
all matters of speech and support was the Apostle’s attitude, and it must be
ours.
III. IN THE MATTER OF SUCCESS.
Success never went to Paul’s head. He could have stood on his dignity as an
Apostle, and from a pedestal of superiority thrown his weight around, but he
never did. Here again we see Paul’s
absolute sincerity, for he knew he only had the position he did by the grace of
God. He was the chief of sinners in his
own eyes, and honesty with the facts demanded that he not use his position of
power for self-advancement.
It was said of Leonard Bacon of Yale, “Dr. Bacon’s idea of
heaven is a great debate in which Dr. Bacon had the floor.” The same motives that operate in Hollywood
often operate in the church, and unless a Christian is characterized by the
attitude of sincerity in all that he does, he can forget he is a servant, and
begin to think he has some claim to honor.
Goodspeed translated, “We might have stood on our
dignity.” Luccock wrote, “More
institutions have died of dignity than for any other cause. Or, if they have not actually died, they
have been so crumpled up with rheumatism that they could not get up from an
invalid’s chair. The church has had
tragic seizures of the paralysis of dignity, when she has been unable to rise,
gird herself, take a towel like her master, and follow him in lowly service.”
Success is dangerous to the insincere person, for he cannot
say with Paul that to please God is his highest motive, or that he seeks not
the glory of men. The danger is that
his dignity will lead to the decay of his devotion to Christ, and self will
again take the throne. Many of the
problems in the Christian life, and in the relationship of the Christian with
the world would be eliminated if the apostolic attitude of sincerity in all
things became the attitude of all believers.
3. GOD’S GENTLEMAN
Based on I Thess. 2:7
History is the record of the battle of competing ideas and
philosophies that clash with one another in their effort to gain the allegiance
of men. The whole world is under the
pressure of such competing ideologies.
Is theism or atheism the truth?
Is liberalism or conservatism the way to go in politics and
theology? The whole question of force
or freedom is ever with us all the way from international relations to our own
family relations. The question is,
which is best, which is right, which is most effective in a given
situation? Is it ruthless
self-assertion or gentle self-sacrifice?
Which is most effective in dealing with a nation you have defeated, or
in dealing with a criminal or a person with anti-social behavior?
The natural tendency of man is to choose force, for any
thing else is a sign of weakness. Peter
was a good man, but he was persuaded that the sword was the best way to handle
things in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Jesus rebuked him and told him that those who lived by the sword will
perish by the sword. Paul was a
Pharisee of the Pharisees, and he was zealous for God. He was throughly convinced that force was
the best policy. He persecuted and arrested
Christians. He was involved in the
stoning of Stephen. Paul received
authority to do this, and he asserted that authority. Might is right was the philosophy controlling him, but he met a
greater master on that road to Damascus, and he received a new heart and new
instructions. He was now given the
authority to go to the Gentiles with the good news that Jesus Christ died for
them, and if they would believe they could be released from the chains of sin
and darkness. We want to look at the
way in which Paul carried out these new orders for his life. In contrast to his old ways, we see him
being God’s gentleman for the Gentiles.
The first thing we notice in this statement is the contrast
from what he was as a faithful Jew.
Paul did not come to the Thessalonians with an army, and with a sword in
hand. What has happened? Is Paul less zealous for Christ than he was
when he was against Christ? Has he lost
his zeal? No! He has gained a new and greater zeal and power, and it is the
power of gentleness. He has discovered
that you only win a person when you convince them, and not when you coerce
them. Many have tried to force people
into the kingdom of God, but it is folly, for it does not work. People only really become a part of the family
of God by choosing to receive God’s gift in Christ. You cannot force people to love Jesus.
Jesus had all power, and He sent disciples into all the
world to teach and preach. Paul was
under that same commission, but he was no longer to go with a sword of steel,
but with the sword of speech. He was
not to go with weapons to cut and blast, but with words to convince and
bless. He was to go, not with soldiers
to compel, but with the Spirit to convince.
Paul was to enter the Gentile kingdom of darkness with the gentle weapon
of light. Jesus, the captain of our
salvation, holds us each responsible for the use of this weapon. He said, “Let your light so shine before men
that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” The Gospel is to spread by the power of
gentleness and not force.
When the church has forgotten this, and began to use
physical force to compel people to believe, it became corrupted by
paganism. Force has always failed to advance
the faith, but love has never failed.
This is a principle in history that the philosopher Locke observed as
applying to all of men’s efforts. He
wrote, “Gentleness is far more successful in all its enterprises than violence;
indeed, violence generally frustrates its own purpose, while gentleness
scarcely ever fails.” We see this
principle illustrated in so many ways Western and gangster films. The bad guys are often defeated by their own
greed for power and possessions. They
double cross and betray one another.
Little do the producers of these films realize that they are promoting
the principles of God.
Paul and many others since have proven the same true:
“Gentleness wins more hearts than sternness.”
George H. Colvert said, “The gentleman is a Christian product.” The whole idea of persuading men and winning
men by the gentle process of enlightenment and friendship is foreign to men
outside of Christ. Force was everything
in the ancient world, and still is in much of the world. The Auca Indians, for example, could not
even conceive of such a thing before they came to know Christ. Force and the impulse to kill was their
natural reaction to other people.
Communism was devoid of gentleness.
Forceful destruction of the enemy was the foundation of their
philosophy. They learned that you can
force people to do your will, but you can only win their love and loyalty when
they are free to give it.
Napoleon was amazed at the fact that Jesus never used force
to build His kingdom, and yet He had millions who would die for Him. Alexander the Great, the Caesars and himself
lost all they had built by force, but Jesus has a kingdom that never ends, and
keeps on growing through the power of love and freedom. Does this mean that Paul never exerted his
authority? Not so, for he often did,
and even with this church when he commanded them to not let those eat who were
lazy and would not work. Paul could get
tough, and he was no weakling, but his basic attitude toward others was always
gentleness and kindness.
Henry Martyn the famous missionary said, “The power of
gentleness is irresistible.” Force is
powerless against it, for all the power of Rome could not halt the unarmed army
of Christians marching as to war, with only the cross of Jesus going on
before. If the Christians would have
taken the sword, they would have been crushed, but instead they loved their
enemies, were kind to them, and they defeated their foes with love.
Paul stirred up a lot of trouble wherever he went, but he
never hurt anyone. He never picked up
stones or threw them back. He never
used a weapon. When he made converts he
did not treat them like a tyrant who had conquered them, but he was gentle and
treated them like his own new born children.
This was no easy task. These
people were pagans, and they would be very ignorant of morality and Christian
doctrine, and so it would take great patience.
There would questions galore on superstitions, and there would be
arguments about old beliefs that would lead to quarreling. We get something of the picture of what Paul
went through by his counsel to Timothy in a similar situation.
Paul wrote in II Tim. 2:23-25, “Have nothing to do with
stupid, senseless controversies: you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be
quarrelsome but kindly to everyone, and apt teacher, forbearing, correcting his
opponents with gentleness.” If a
Christian wins an argument by being rude, he loses more than he gains, for
though he wins the debate he loses his Christian testimony which is worth far
more. Paul urges Titus to teach the
Christians to be gentle in their relations with the world. In Titus 3:1-2 he writes, “Remind them to be
submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for any
honest work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to
show perfect courtesy toward all men.”
Where did Paul get this idea of gentleness being so basic
in human relations? He tells us in II
Cor. 10:1 where he writes, “I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and
gentleness of Christ.” Jesus was called
a friend of sinners because He could relate to the worst of men and women and
treat them kindly. The great contrast
in Paul’s life from being a zealous Jew using force to an even more zealous
Christian out to spread the Gospel by gentleness came about because Christ
dwelt within. Paul accepted the truth
of Christ that only the Holy Spirit silently working in the heart can ever win
a soul to Christ. Soul-winning is not
by might or power. We don’t win people
by overwhelming them, but we win as Christ did by letting His love, kindness and
compassion or through our lives in gentleness.
Mrs. C. M. Sawyer wrote,
If a man thou wouldst
redeem,
And lead a lost one back to God;
Wouldst thou a guardian
angel seem
To one who long in guilt hath trod,
Go kindly to him-take his
hand
With gentlest words within thine own,
And by his side a brother
stand,
Till all the demons thou dethrone.
This might seem superficial and sentimental, but when we are
constrained as Paul was by the love of Christ, and seek to communicate the
simple Gospel of Christ’s death and resurrection, we will discover it is the most
potent force in life. I am more
convinced every day that true power is in gentleness. Like the silent gentle rays of the sun are the most potent
factors in natural life, so the gentle kindness of the Christian is the most
potent factor in spreading the spiritual life.
In almost every case of a skeptic or hardened person I
have talked to there is some point in their life where the church failed
them. Christians were indifferent or cold
toward their need, and this set them against Christ. I have seen it in a woman who told me that if some Christians
would have stuck with her when she discovered her baby girl was mentally
deficient she might have kept her faith, but they didn’t. Several women have told me of attempts to
seek Christian help when they had a deep need, but they were given a cold
shoulder.
All of the common virtues of kindness seem so weak and
inadequate, but people are always hungry to be accepted, and so the gentle
virtues have a greater impact than we realize.
Every person needs to be respected, and that needs to come through
clearly when we relate to them. If they
do not feel this, they will not be open to the Gospel. Medical missions are based on the philosophy
that a man you have helped cure or save from some disease will have an open
heart to what you say. Because he has
benefitted by your compassion and skill he will be open to what you
believe.
Paul faced a self-centered society, and though we may be on
a higher level than those people of his day, we still live in a basically
self-centered society. The theme is to
assert yourself, and throw your weight around.
The one time top play called Stop The World-I Want To Get Off is about a
man who lived the self-centered life.
In the end he wakes up to realize he has paid to high a cost and he
sings, “What kind of fool am I who never fell in love? It seems that I am the only one that I have
been thinking of.” As servants of
Christ we must love these kinds of people just as He did. It is only when we love them in their sin
that we can love them out of their sin.
This must not be interpreted to mean that we approve of
sin. Paul was forceful in his
condemnation of the old life.
Gentleness is not weakness. La Rochefoucauld said, “It is only people
who possess firmness who can possess true gentleness.” Paul was certain about God’s will, and so he
could be truly gentle. It is only when
we really believe in the power of Christ and the operation of the Holy Spirit
that we can be gentle in our relationship with all men. It is lack of faith that drives people to
harsh measures, and plans based on self-assertion. All coercion and pressure in winning men is based on self-will
and not faith.
Emerson said, “We do not believe, or we forget, that the
Holy Spirit came down, not in the shape of a vulture, but in the shape of a
dove.” The dove is a symbol of
gentleness, and the Holy Spirit works through gentleness in the world. He gains entrance into the sinner’s heart by
the door of love, and not through the door of force. Shakespeare wrote in As You Like It, “Your gentleness shall force
more than your force move us to gentleness.”
Paul would agree an also say amen to that poet who wrote,
Who misses or who wins the
prize?
Go, lose or conquer as you can,
But if you fail, or if you
rise,
Be each, pray God, a gentleman.
4. BLAMELESS BEHAVIOR Based on I Thess. 2:8-12
These 5 verses conclude Paul’s defense of himself to the Thessalonians,
and in them we see clearly that one of the basic secrets of success is to love
your work. Paul’s work was reaching
people with the Gospel and seeing them mature in the Christian life. He loved this work more than life
itself. Paul was the servant of all,
and that is why he was so great. He was
saved to serve, and he served to save.
Oliver St. John Gogarty, the Irish poet, was an ear and
throat specialist in his early days.
When someone asked him why he left that profession to take up poetry he
said, “I got tired of looking down people’s throats and listening to them say
ah, and then looking into their ears.”
H. Luccock said in response, “What did he expect? Did he imagine that in his service he would
have an endless succession of fresh bewildering surprises?” Service can often be monotonous, and that is
why Christian service calls for total commitment and self-sacrifice, for
without it the frustrations force people to give up. We want to examine these verses and see what kept Paul on the
path of blameless behavior in spite of all the problems he faced.
Verse 8: Paul’s love for these people was evident in his
behavior, for he says he was willing to give himself to them. Paul had no cold impersonal presentation of
the Gospel. He entered into it with his
life. This is an amazing statement when
he says not the Gospel of God only.
What does he mean when he says the Gospel only? You mean there is more? Yes, there is, and there must be if the
Gospel is to be effective. But what can
you give more than the Gospel? You can
give yourself. The Gospel costs you
nothing. Freely you have received, and
freely you are to give. But to give of
yourself, and to give up what is yours will cost you something, and this is the
plus factor of success. Being a Christian was no mere profession for Paul, but
it was a passion.
Paul had no contract with God. He had no 40 hour week and retirement funds and health
insurance. He had a message to
proclaim, and he was constrained by the love of Christ to give himself
completely to the task. Service that
costs us nothing personally will likely bear little fruit.
Verse 9: Paul made a special effort not to be a burden to
people. He was a burden bearer and not
a burden bringer. He worked nights so
that he could spend the days preaching the Gospel. Fortunately he knew how to make tents. Every Jewish boy was taught a trade. Gamaliel said, “He that teacheth not his son a trade, doth the
same as if he taught him to be a thief.”
Paul was taught a trade and he used it rather than seek support from his
Gentile converts. He avoided all
possibility of misunderstanding by offering the Gospel “Without money and
without price.”
The fact that Paul was so cautious about money and support
in dealing with his converts indicates that tithing is a commitment of mature
Christian responsibility. It is no part
of the saving Gospel, and Paul did not mention the idea to these people. This is interesting because failure to
follow Paul’s wisdom has lead to much superficial and materialistic
Christianity. In my limited experience
I have met a number of professing Christians who were fed up with the church
because of its demands for money. What
has happened is that these people were burdened with financial commitments to
the church before they were spiritually mature and committed to Christ and the
work of the church.
These people had no joy in giving because there was no sense
of involvement and no sense of delight in sharing a common goal. Paul was more concerned about getting mature
believers than in getting givers, for he knew that in the long run the mature
believers would become the greatest givers.
Failing to follow Paul’s method has lead many churches to produce flocks
of discontented sheep who feel that the main reason for the existence of the
church is to keep them sheered.
Verse 10: What a statement!
No man would dare to make it unless it was true. Paul appeals to their memory, and to God
also to bear witness. His behavior was
holy, righteous and blameless. Paul
never claimed to be perfect, and he admitted he had not yet attained, but was
always pressing on. He makes it clear,
however, that for all practical purposes the Christian can live a blameless
life before the world and fellow believers.
Paul is not making himself a special case, for he uses the plural to
include Timothy and Silas also.
Trapp wrote, “Happy is the man who can be acquitted by
himself in private, in public by others, in both by God.” Here were three men who could take such a
stand. What a powerful testimony they
are to what Christ can do in us and through us if we are completely
committed. F. B. Speakman, once pastor
in Pittsburgh, said of a skeptical friend, “I often suspected that his only
real difficulty with religion is that he has known too many clergymen too
well. That can be a road block in any
Pilgrim’s Progress.” Layman can be
included also, for many Christians are convinced that the way to impress the
unbeliever is to show him you can be just like him rather than showing him you
can be what he cannot.
I saw this philosophy being worked out in action. I saw a Christian business man meet with a
group of unemployed men, most of whom were not Christians. The leader began the meeting with a sincere
prayer as the smoke from his cigarette rose with it. He then proceeded to show that Christians are not narrow minded
sheltered people who don’t know how the world lives and talks. He proved it by introducing a curse word
here and there, and making a specific effort at one point to use a violent
expression. He justified this by
referring to Samuel Shoemaker’s testimony that he did not want to go deep into
heaven but to stay by the gate to help others in. When he finished that story he said he too wanted to stand near
the gate. One of the skeptical men at
my table said, “Don’t you think it would be better if he stood on the
inside?” All of his buddies had a good
laugh at that.
After the meeting I talked to some of these young men and
it was made clear that non-Christians are not impressed at all when you show
them you can be like them. Their whole
problem in believing is that they cannot see enough difference to convince them
there is anything to it. They had no
respect for that man who could pray to Christ one minute and then use foul
language the next. Such behavior is not
holy, and certainly not blameless. Jesus
never hinted that conformity to any practice of the world would be effective in
winning the world. He was holy,
undefiled and separate from their behavior, even while he ate with sinners. He was the friend of sinners, and Paul
followed him in that, but he proved that purity of life is the greatest power
to persuade men.
Verse 11: Paul now refers to his fatherly concern for
them. In verse 7 he referred to the
gentle care of the mother, and now he refers to the father’s guidance. A father exhorts his children. He gives guiding principles for life, and
when the going gets tough he comforts and encourages the child to go on, even
when the opposition is great. He lays
before them their responsibility and obligation before God to stand fast.
He stresses that he dealt with each of them as a
father. The idea here is of individual
concern. Paul did not treat people on a
package deal basis. Personal
recognition is essential. F. B.
Speakman told of his experience of seeing well-dressed parents and a little boy
in a fancy restaurant. The waitress
took the order of the parents and then said to the little boy, “What would you
like?” The boy responded fearfully, “I
want a hot dog.” Both parents barked at
once, “No hot dog!” They told her to
bring him potatoes and beef with vegetable and a hard roll. The waitress was not listening to them, and
she said to the boy, “What do you want on your hot dog?” He flashed an amazed smile and said,
“Ketchup-lots of ketchup, and bring me a glass of milk.” “Coming up,” she said as she turned and left
two parents in stunned silence. The boy
turned and in excited voice said, “You know, she thinks I’m real.” Paul treated people as if they were real,
and it is a Christian obligation to do so, for each person is precious to God.
Verse 12: Here is the goal of all Paul’s loving,
self-sacrificing and blameless behavior.
Does Paul actually expect these people to be able to walk worthy of God? Yes he does. The Great Commission says, “Teaching them to observe all things I
have commanded you.” We can learn to
live a life that is pleasing to God. It
is not automatic, however, and it takes exhortation, encouragement and urging
from a loving Apostle. Men cannot be
saved by their efforts, but this is totally the work of God. They can and must, however, cooperate with
God to grow in grace and be sanctified.
Paul teaches that it is possible to walk like the child of a king. It is possible to live with a dignity worthy
of the calling that is ours, and do so to the glory of God.
H. Luccock stood on the dock in England while Queen
Elizabeth was boarding a ship for a trip to Europe. He noted a large pile of trunks with the label “Not wanted on voyage.” These were things not needed until they
arrived, and so they could be put in storage.
He said that it caused him to think of professing Christians who feel
this way about Christian ethics. They
figure that they do not have to walk worthy until they walk the streets of
gold, and so they mark many virtues “Not wanted on the voyage,” and they store
them away, and do not walk worthy.
Maclaren calls living lives worthy of God “The law of
Christian conduct in a nutshell.”
Whatever is not worthy is not right.
This principle cuts across all of life, and it does not allow for a
compartmental Christianity. People get
the idea that your conduct only has to be worthy when you are being religious,
but at other times it is not necessary.
They think that life is in compartments where you have one for science,
one for sports, one for news and one for religion. You take your choice.
Some people like sports and others like religion and so religion is just
one aspect of life in which you have a strong interest. Paul repudiates such an idea. He makes it clear that the whole of life is
to be Christian, and conduct in every aspect of it is to be pleasing to
God. All of life is to be lived worthy
of a citizen of the kingdom of God.
Looking back over this defense of Paul, it is no wonder he
was used of God the way he was. His
courage in severe struggle; his master motive of pleasing God; his attitude of
complete sincerity and gentleness, and his blameless behavior all add up to one
of the most Christ-like lives ever lived.
The source of his life he identifies clearly when he says, “Be ye
imitators of me as I am of Christ.”
5. FRUITFUL FRUSTRATION Based on I Thess. 2:13-20
Joe Bayly had a change to stay in the luxurious Hilton Hotel
in Chicago. It was going to be a treat
of a retreat, but then he was hit again by the x-factor. That is what he calls Murphy's Law-the law
that says, if anything can go wrong it will.
The hot water in his room would not work. He was frustrated, but not all that surprised, for the x-factor
is everywhere. It is like the law of
gravity. It starts in childhood with
getting the mumps on Thanksgiving. Then
when you wear your new shoes, you get a deep scratch in them the first time,
which you can't even remember happening to your old worn out pair. Then you move up to breaking an arm just as
summer vacation begins. Later on, the
night before your first date you get a big pimple on your face. Some people do grow out of the pimples,
but nobody ever grows out of
the x-factor. Bayly says, when he
finally gets a chance to sleep in late, that is when some unusual event will
wake him up and hour before his usual time.
Dr. R. F. Gumperson began serious research on the x-factor
back in 1938. He made some discoveries
that led the x-factor to be called Gumperson's law by many. Some of his discoveries were-
1. That a child exposed to a disease for weeks without catching it
will then without exposure come down with it the day before the family
vacation.
2. That the dishwasher is most likely to break down on an evening in
which you are expecting guests.
3. That good parking places are most often seen on the other side of
the street.
4. That a man who can't start a fire with a box of matches and the
Sunday paper will start a forest fire when he throws a burnt match out of his
car window.
There is no telling what other discoveries his genius may have
yielded had he not been killed in 1947.
He was walking along the highway one evening facing the traffic as wise
walkers do, when he was struck by a visiting Englishman who was driving on the
shoulder. The x-factor got him. It gets
us all at sometime or another, and the reason I am preaching on it is because
it has recently gotten us. As we were
going through a very frustrating time, it suddenly dawned on me that this is a
major cause of suffering in the world, and it would fit right into my series on
suffering. I knew the Bible would have
something to say about an experience so universal, and so when I began to
search, it was not long before I discovered that it is a major factor in
Biblical revelation.
Let me share some of our experience to show what motivated me
to study the subject of frustration.
Lavonne and I always look forward to May because that is our anniversary
month, and for many years it has been our month for a special get away. This year it was even more important to us
because Lavonne had been ill so much with a strange virus that would come and
go. It came more than it went, and left
her weak and bedridden. I have had to
do things I have seldom or never done in cleaning, cooking, and taking care of
her. She was getting better, and the Sunday before our vacation she was in both
services and felt good. But then the
x-factor got us. Monday she was ill
again, and the first two days of our vacation we were going to
specialists. On the third day she was
admitted to Bethesda Hospital, and that
is where we spent Wednesday to Saturday.
It was the most frustrating vacation we have ever
experienced. This deep taste of
frustration made me realize just how powerful a force frustration can be in
people's lives. I know everybody gets frustrated, but when it is a prolonged
experience, it has all kinds of potential for being destructive. I better understand the battle of those who
endure long range frustration. And I
better understand why it is one of Satan's most powerful tools to damage the
Christian life. I realized how
important it is for Christians not to be ignorant of Satan's devices, and I
became determined to find out what God's Word had to say about this serious
subject. We can't begin to cover it in
one message, but what we can cover is enough to help us be aware of some
basics. The first thing we want to look
at is-
I. THE FACT OF FRUSTRATION.
By this I mean, it is a part of our fallen world, and it goes
with the territory. There is no
escape. To be human is to experience
frustration. It is not sinful to be
frustrated, for Jesus was sinless, but He did not escape frustration. He may have had more than His share even,
for the more ideals and goals you have, the more you will be frustrated. That is why Paul had so many
frustrations. In our text, Paul says he
wanted to come to see the
Thessalonians, and he tried time and time again, but Satan stopped
him. The word for stopped in the Greek
is the word for frustration. Satan is
the great frustrator of the Christians goals.
The word means to hinder, to impede, to thwart, and thus, to prevent the
achieving of a goal by being an obstacle.
The military used the word to refer to the practice of making deep ruts in the roads to hold up
a pursuing enemy army. You can imagine
the frustration of a chariot driver in a hurry with deep ruts in the road.
Satan is a master at blocking the way to God's best. He prevents blessings just as we are to
prevent suffering. All through history
this has been his strategy-to frustrate the believer in trying to reach his
objective, and cause him to give up in despair. When Ezra records the attempt of God's people to rebuild the
temple of God, he tells us of the strategy of Satan in chapter 4:4-5,
"Then the people's around them set out to discourage the people of Judah
and make them afraid to go on building.
They hired counselors to work against them and frustrate their plans
during the entire reign of Cyrus king of Persia." It is one of the facts of life we have to
face, even if we hate it, and would rather not be aware of it. If we try to do something that we know is
the will of God, we will have to expect frustration.
Be not weary in well doing says Paul, and why? Because he knows from experience that
well-doing is not a piece of cake. It
is hard work, and often will not lead to the results you hope for. That is why Jesus had to experience so much
frustration. He was perpetually going
about doing good, but was it all greeted with gratitude? Not so!
The Pharisees treated Him like a criminal for loving people so much that
He would ignore their laws to heal people.
It frustrated Jesus that those who were supposed to represent God cared
more about rules than about people.
Jesus was frustrated with His own disciples because they were so much like
the world, and they quarreled among themselves for status. He was frustrated over Jerusalem, for He
loved the people and wanted to protect them from the wrath to come, but they
would not listen and open their hearts to Him.
Jesus wept over the city in frustration.
We could do a whole study just on the frustration of Jesus,
but the point we need to stress is that frustration is just a fact of
life. It is not wrong to be frustrated. It is just a reality that needs to be
recognized. It makes a world of
difference to know this, and that Jesus and Paul, and all God's people, are in
this together. Frustration, or the
being hindered from reaching goals, is a normal experience for all who are in
the will of God. It is not a sign that you
are failing God, or that you are on the wrong path. If Satan can get you to feel this way, his strategy will be
effective, and frustration can lead to failure. When Christians lose their cool because of frustration, they do
all kinds of meaningless or destructive things.
The poet Homer, in his epic The Odyssey, tells of how the
Greek General Olysses was leading his army toward Troy, and came unexpectedly
upon a flooded river he could not cross.
He was so frustrated by this obstacle that he went out into the river up
to his knees and began to thrash the water with chains. As might be expected, the river gave no
response to his rage. The nervous
energy created by frustration needs to be channeled toward constructive ends,
and we will look at this in a moment, but we first need to get it in our heads
that frustration is a fact of life, and something we all need to cope with,
even in the will of God.
Edwin Erickson, our Conference missionary in Ethiopia, wrote
of the many frustrations he and his wife faced as they returned to
Ethiopia. He writes, "A home that sometimes seems like a
dorm.
City water that occasionally
disappears when it is most needed.
A basement that sometimes
floods after a heavy rain.
A guest house for our
Ethiopian brothers and sisters that has plumbing problems. People needing
medical attention.
We need patience to find our
niche, try to be ourselves and at the same time be God's servants. Pray for us that we will not be overwhelmed
or frustrated by human expectations
as we discover what God
expects from us."
Frustration is a common battle on the foreign field, but it is
the same on the home field. Listen to Gary Odle, who is a home missionary
trying to get a new church started. His
testimony represents thousands of Christians in their struggle to be used of
God. He writes, "We tried
everything. We did door-to-door survey
work and evangelism. No results. We organized a neighbor barbecue at the
community swimming pool, personally inviting over 500 people and handing out
flyers. No results. We promoted neighborhood information
meetings for those looking for a church home.
Many said they were sincerely interested-but no results." He goes on with more efforts that got no
response, and he concludes, "By December I was frustrated: All this work and expense with little to
show for it. Doubt assailed me. Maybe I am the wrong man for the job. Maybe I am going about this in the wrong
way. Maybe I'm not spiritual
enough. Maybe I should quit."
Doubts and depression are the common results of frustration,
and if they are allowed to become the dominate emotions in one's life, they
lead to becoming weary in well doing. Thousands of Christian soldiers go AWOL,
and do just that-they quit. But Paul
did not quit. He faced the fact of
frustration frequently, but he refused to fail because of it. He was thrown in prison, and run out of
town. He was unjustly punished, and had
to endure all kinds of frustrating delays, and being let down by fellow Christians
who, like Demus, forsook him. Then, on
top of the Satanic obstacles in his path, and the human hindrances to his
goals, there was also the God caused frustrations. God's ways are not our ways, and the result is, Paul had goals
and ambitions that God prevented, and thus, frustrated.
In Acts 16:6-7 we see God guides sometimes by closing doors we
want to go through. He forces us to go through doors He wants us to go
through. In other words, frustration can
even be a part of God's providential leading.
Dr. Luke writes, "Paul and his companions traveled throughout the
region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from
preaching the Word in the province of Asia.
When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but
the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to." Paul went West instead of East, and Christianity became
predominately a Western
rather than an Eastern
movement, because Christ hindered Paul's plan, and promoted his own.
So frustration can be both demonic and divine, and to round it
off, we need to see it can also be self-caused. Paul was frustrated with the Galatian Christians for listening to
the Judaisers, who would drag them back under the law. But he blamed external forces on their being
obstructive, and he writes in Gal. 5:7, "You were running a good
race. Who cut in on you and kept you
from obeying the truth?" Cut in on
is the same Greek word for frustrated.
This word is also used by Peter to refer to self-hindrance. In I Pet. 3:7 he writes, "Husbands, in
the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with
respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of
life,
so that nothing will hinder
your prayers." Unanswered prayer
is one of the great frustrations of the Christian life, but you can't blame the
devil for it all, for Peter says we frustrate our own goals when we refuse to
relate to our mate in the way God desires.
Paul recognized the danger of self-frustration also, and that
is why he put up with a lot of things that were not the best, because he did
not want to frustrate the plan of God.
He writes in I Cor. 9:12, "If others have this right of support
from you, shouldn't we have it all the more?
But we did not use this right.
On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the Gospel
of Christ." Paul is saying, he
would rather endure frustration of his rights than cause the frustration of the
Gospel. We have not begun to cover all
the reality of frustration, but we have established that it is a fact of life
that is inevitable, and has its source in-
1. The Satanic.
2. The Spirit.
3. The self.
There's no escape from the
fact of frustration. All we can do is
respond wisely or unwisely to this fact, and that leads us to consider our
second point which is-
II. THE FRUIT OF FRUSTRATION.
Even bad responses to frustration can lead to getting your own
way, but these do not produce the fruit of the Spirit, which always be the
Christian goal. A child is the prime
example of how to cope with frustration in an immature manner. We should expect this of a child, but there
bad example is not be our guide. A
child responds to frustration with anger, and then a tantrum if the frustration
is not quickly relieved. It is
wonderful that children are the weakest segment of society. If they controlled power, history would be a
short story. Block a child from getting
his own way, and you often create a monster. Fortunately, their fangs and other weapons are not yet fully
formed.
Fruitful frustration calls for acceptance and adjustment. It does not make any difference if the
blocked goal is a result of Satan, the Holy Spirit, or the self, for the only
way you can be creative in your use of frustration is to accept the reality of
it, and adjust your goal. That is what
Paul did. He did not stand before
closed doors and pound until he was bloody.
He walked away and entered other doors.
He did not say, if I can't have it my way, I quit. He accepted the fact that his way was not
possible, and he would have to go a
different direction. He knew how to retreat as well as
advance. A strategic retreat has saved
many an army, and wise is the general who knows when retreat is the key to
victory. A stubborn inflexible determination to have your own way regardless of
the consequences is not a Christian virtue.
It is like childish rebellion against reality. Paul did not like it that he could not get to the Thessalonians
or to Romans, for he was hindered, but he did not devote his life to grieving
or to rebellion. Instead, he went
elsewhere and did the will of God.
I am sure Paul did not like the experience of being thrown in
prison, but he did not, in frustration, bang his head on the bars, or go into a
vegetative mood of depression. He got
out his pen and wrote letters that changed the course of history. He accepted his limitations, and adjusted to
the situation, and did something else other than his plan A, and God used plan
B to accomplish even more than Paul ever dreamed of doing with plan A. Even
God's frustrating no can be a blessing if we accept it and adjust to doing
something other than what we planned to do.
Nobody gets their own way all the time. Look at king David, for he had a deep desire
to build a temple for God. It was one
of the great dreams of his life. But
God said no. God put the block before
him, and hindered him from achieving this great goal. God said to David that Solomon his son would do it, and it would
be known as the temple of Solomon, and not the temple of David. What a frustrating development, but David
did not say, if I can't make the rules of the game, I won't play. He accepted the fact that he could not do
all he wanted to, and he adjusted to this reality and said, I can at least
collect all the materials needed for the project, and that is what he did. Someone said, "If you can't do all the
that you want, you can want to do all that you can." That is what frustrated people do who do
what is wise to do in frustration.
Paul was so frustrated when the Jews would not respond to the
Gospel. He loved them and longed for them
to be saved, but when they rejected the Gospel, he did not give up and quit, but went to the Gentiles and became
the apostle to the Gentiles. Abraham
Lincoln wanted people to love and support him for his fight against
slavery. Instead, he got letters
threatening his life. They came on a
consistent basis, and they were a frustration to him, but he finally adjusted,
and recognized he could not stop other people's folly. He could only choose to go on with his
goals, and that is what he did. He
wrote, "I long ago made up my mine that if anybody wants to kill me, he
will do it. If I wore a shirt of mail
and kept myself surrounded by a bodyguard, it would be all the same. There are a thousand ways to getting a man
if it is desired that he should be killed." He did not stop the assassin who finally got him, but he also
never let the frustration of that threat keep him from doing the best he could
to stop slavery.
Doctors face frequent frustration because of the complexity of
medicine and the body. What cures one
kills another, and every cure is also a potential cause of other problems. Dr.
S. I. McMillen, college physician of Houghton College, a well known Christian
institution, tells of the 35 year old Mrs. Cheryl Wilkins who had the dread disease
of Lupus. She was put on high dosages
of Prednisone. It probably saved her
life, but her eyes bulged, her blood pressure was high, and she had headaches
and emotion problems. She became a
walking medical museum. This is
frustrating to doctors when causing suffering is the only way they know how to
help people. They have terribly
frustrating limitations, and they get plenty of flak because of it, but thank
God they don't give up. They have to
face up to the reality of their limitations, and press on doing what they
can.
Paul could not choose where he would be all the time, so he
chose to start a church wherever he happen to be. He could not choose to be well off all the time, for sometimes he
was forced to be poor and do without.
Since he could not choose, he came to the ultimate adjustment and writes
in Phil. 4:11-13, "....I have learned to be content whatever the
circumstances. I know what it is to be
in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of
being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether
living in plenty or in want. I can do
everything through Him who gives me strength."
I never saw it before, but this famous saying of Paul, "I
can do all things through Christ who strengthens me," is directly related
to frustration. He is not saying he has
some kind of plug into omnipotence and can do whatever he pleases. He is saying, when I can't do what I please,
and when I can't be where I want, and when I can't have what I wish, and life
refuses to go my way, I can, by the power of Christ, be content. I can adjust to the fact of frustration, and
I can make it fruitful by accepting it, and choosing to refuse to let it get me
down and discouraged.
Satan could not defeat Paul, because Paul learned the secret
of victory over frustration. If you way is blocked, go a different way. If you can't, then stop where you are, and
do something different. Adjust to
changing circumstances, and be content in the state you are in, regardless of
what goals are being frustrated, for that is the key to being fruitful. The popular idea that says, if life gives
you a lemon, make lemonade, is not off the mark, for it fits the mind of Paul. Keep in mind, we do not always know if our
goals are being frustrated by God, Satan, others, or even ourselves, but the
response on our part has to be the same if we are to make them fruitful.
When my granddaughter was brought to the hospital to visit
Lavonne, she had some very specific goals in mind. Two of them especially stand out. The goal of ripping the Guidepost Magazine out of the lounge, and
the goal of pulling the plug for the TV out of the socket. My goal was to frustrate her two major
objectives. The score was a tie, for I
only partially prevented it, and she only partially achieved it. The point is, I was being frustrating to her
for her own safety, and for the benefit of others. Everyone would have been the loser had she been free to do as she
pleased.
Frustration is not all bad, and so we have to accept it with
that in mind. It could be the obstacles
in our way preventing us from fulfilling our will are really beneficial. But even if they are not, and are of the
devil, or have their source in human folly, there is only one intelligent
response to frustration. It is the
response of Paul at his conversion, and for the rest of his life. Jesus stopped him cold in his plan to arrest
Christians, and Paul knocked from his horse, blind and frustrated, said to
Jesus, "Lord, what wouldst thou have me to do?" His response of obedience made this one of
the most fruitful frustrations of history, and he had many more to come.
One of the most famous works of art in the world is the
ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome.
When the pope asked Michelanglo to paint it, he protested. He was a sculpture not a painter, but the
pope would not take no for an answer.
He started this colossal task
in frustration. He had to paint ten thousand square feet of
ceiling with pictures that would form a unified design. It took 343 figures, some of them 18 feet
high. To make it more impossible, the
five artists hired to help him were all sent home, and their work destroyed. He
would have to do it as a one man project.
He felt it is was too difficult and beyond him. He did not feel like a genius, but was
tormented by frustration at the difficulty of the task he was forced to do
against his will. The first scaffolding had to be torn down and rebuilt. The first section he painted developed a
mold and he begged the pope to let him quit, but he refused. So, month after month he lay on back 68 feet
up in the air doing a job he did not want to do. After about four and a half years of this agonizing labor the
work was uncovered in Oct. of 1512, and for over 450 years it stands as one of
the wonders of the world of art. The
point is, Michengelo was frustrated with this task from start to finish, but he
did not, because of his frustration, blow it, and do a poor job. He did his best in spite of frustration, and
made it one of the most fruitful periods of his life. He couldn't do what he wanted, but he wanted to do what he could,
and he did.
Frustration is not eliminated by a wise response to it, but it
can be elevated so that the negative energy is used for positive purposes. The most frustrating thing in life has to be
living without assurance of one's destination.
It is frustrating not to know for sure if you are going into eternity as
God's friend or foe. This frustration
can be the most fruitful of all, if it moved you to take God's gift, and to
receive Jesus as your Savior and Lord, and,
thereby, have assurance of
salvation. This would make it life's greatest
fruitful frustration.
6. THANK GOD IT WORKS Based on I Thess. 2:13
In his book God’s Word In Man’s Language, Eugene Nida tells
of young Belgian parachutist who was dropped into this country during World War
II to work in the underground against the Germans. He was captured by the Gestapo and put in solitary
confinement. In the cell next to him
was a Belgian pastor, and the two men discovered that they could communicate
with each other by taping the Morse Code on the wall. On one occasion the parachutist tapped, “It is hell to be alone
with oneself.” The pastor replied, “It
is heaven to be alone with one’s Lord.”
The pastor knew the young man had deep spiritual need. He arranged with members of his congregation
to send a Bible to him. The Bible came,
and with it came the Living Word, for before he was taken to be executed he
tapped this message through the wall: “I am going out to life and not to
death.”
What evidence did he have for such confidence? All he had was the testimony of a man and a
book, and yet he was transformed and experienced what men have been
experiencing down through the centuries every since Jesus died on the
cross. The thief on the cross had less
evidence to go on than anyone. All of
his evidence was negative except for the word of Christ, but that alone was
enough to give him the same assurance and confidence that has come to all who
believe in Christ.
Even though we have tons of evidence for the historical
accuracy of the Bible, this is still not the basic reason for believing it to
be the Word of God. Neither can we say
it is the Word of God because it says so, for a thing is not what it claims to
be simply because it claims it. The
primary proof that the Bible is the Word of God is practical. All who truly believe it and have perfect
confidence in it experience its power.
Paul in verse 13 gives us the three steps that the Thessalonians went
through to come to the point of assurance concerning the Word of God. These three steps are the three which all
must pass through if they would arrive at the place of perfect confidence.
I. THE WITNESS OF THE WORD TO THEM.
The thief on the cross, the Belgian youth in his cell, the
Thessalonians and everyone who has ever trusted in Jesus has first of all
received a witness. The Word of God
must always be communicated in the language of people before they can
respond. The communication need not be
by sound, as was the case with Paul and these people. When Paul came to them there was no New Testament. There was no written record of the good news
to hand out, and so all was verbal.
Since the word has been put into writing, and especially since the
invention of printing, the Gospel has gone into most of the world in the
language of the people. The Bible has
been translated into well over a thousand languages, and people are working on
the many hundreds left because they know that it is in the Word of God that
there is power, and where there is no witness of the Word there is no power.
The tragedy of history and of many lives is that they do
not receive the witness at all, or not soon enough. Katherine Mansfield in her journal tells of coming on a Bible in
her mature years while she was in the mountains fighting a losing battle with
tuberculosis. She wrote, “I feel so
bitterly that I never have known these facts before. They ought to be part of my very breathing.” The providence of God often works, however,
even when men fail to take the Word where it is desperately needed. There are thousands of cases on record
similar to the experience of Vicente Quiroga.
In 1878 after a violent earthquake in Northern Chile he was stationed to
guard a beach littered with rubble from boats which the tidal wave had
wrecked. Among the rubble was a few
pages torn from a book. After drying
them he read them and was amazed at the message. He was confused and showed a friend who told him the pages came
from a book called the Bible. He
searched for a missionary and got the whole Bible. He read it and received Christ, and he went on to spread the word
until 20 years later that whole section of Chile had received the witness of
the Word.
General Lew Wallace, author of Ben Hur, which is one of
the most popular novels every written by an American, never had any interest in
Christianity before he began to prepare for writing his book. In his autobiography he confesses, “At that
time I was not in the least influenced by religious sentiment. I had no convictions about God or
Christ. I neither believed nor
disbelieved in them....Indifference is the word most perfectly descriptive of
my feelings.” It was not until he was
confronted with the Word that things changed.
He read the Gospels and as he did a light illumined his darkness and he
said, “Long before I was through with my book I became a believer in God and
Christ.” The first step in coming to a
conviction and a confidence in the Word of God is to be confronted by the
witness of it.
II. THE WELCOME OF THE WORD BY THEM.
Paul says they received the Word and accepted it. Some versions have embraced it or welcomed
it. Without this act of reception there
can never be any assurance. It is the connecting
link between the witness of the Word to us, and the working of the Word in
us. Without it there is no channel
through which the power of the Word can flow.
We have all had the experience of flipping on a switch and getting no
response. Right away you think there
must be a burnt out bulb, or a blown fuse.
If neither of these prove to be the problem, you know something must be
wrong with the switch or the wiring. You
never doubt the power of electricity.
You always assume that the problem is somewhere in the connections. Your faith in the power of electricity is
not shaken in the least, for you know that its power operates according to
certain conditions, and when they are not fulfilled it just will not work.
So it is with the Gospel.
When it does not work in the lives of those who hear it we recognize
that it is just like electricity. It
does not operate without rules. If it
is not received, accepted and welcomed it cannot enter the life and transform
one into a child of light from a child of darkness. Witness without welcome is worthless. That is why Paul is thanking God because these people welcomed
the witness. Reception of the Word is
what releases its power. Jesus said you
shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free, but truth must be
received before it can set anyone free.
We become what we receive. If we
receive the influence of the world we will express the values of the world. If we receive the Word of God, we will
express the values of the Word in our lives.
Robert Beverly Hale of the Metropolitan Museum of Art gave
this explanation of modern art: “If our art seems violent, it is because we
have perpetuated more violence than any other generation. If it deals with weird dreams, it is because
we have opened up the caverns of the mind and let such phantoms loose. If it is filled with broken shapes, it is
because we have watched the order of our fathers break and fall to pieces at
our feet.” In other words, art
expresses the artists concept of reality, and reality is a mess. The world only offers confusion, but the
Word offers Christ, and He is the Lord of order and harmony. When we welcome His Word into our lives as
good news we will reflect that good news in the order of our lives.
III. THE WORKING OF THE WORD IN THEM.
Pragmatism is not the only test, but it is a test. Pragmatism
is the philosophy that asks, does it work?
That is the main thing. It is
not of any value unless it works. It is
not an adequate philosophy, however, because a thing can work and still not be
the best, or even a good thing. But the
fact is, if something doesn’t work, it certainly does not merit
consideration. The point is, the Word
of God works. That is why Paul, when he
heard that they stood firm in the faith, even when they were persecuted and had
their faith challenged, gave thanks to God.
He was thanking God because the Word was working.
Charles Crowe tells of an experience back in 1947 when the
New York harbor was fog bound. All
tragic was stopped. And ocean liner was
delayed 13 hours from reaching a dock just a mile away. A harbor ferry was lost for 7 hours. Forty ships sat waiting to enter the
harbor. They did not dare to move in
the thick and dangerous fog. There was
only one ship moving, and that was a tugboat that was being guided by new radar
equipment. It moved 302 railroad cars
on schedule. What radar did for that
tugboat, the Word of God did for the Thessalonians. It guided them through troubled waters when their own powers and
reasoning would surely have led to shipwreck.
David said, “Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might
sin against thee.” Someone has said
that the Word keeps us from sin, or sin keeps us from the Word. Without the Word we do sin against
God. We sin in being ignorant of His
will, or we sin in not being able to find an give guidance. We sin also by giving false guidance. There is no end to the ways we can fail God
by not receiving the Word and allowing it to work in our lives. We are blind to so much until we gaze into
the mirror of the Word. Wilbur Smilth
said he could wash his hands ten times a day and not need a mirror. He could wash his feet and not need a
mirror. He could take a whole bath and
not need a mirror. But if he wanted to
see if his face was clean, he needed a mirror.
The face cannot be seen, and none of us has ever seen our own face apart
from a reflection. There is no other
way to see it. The most public part of
our body is that which everyone else sees but us. We can only see it with a mirror.
So it is with our soul.
We have no natural capacity to know how we look in the sight of God
apart from the mirror of His Word. It
is by the Word that we are cleansed, and by the Word that we are kept
clean. Paul knew the Word was working
in the lives of these people he wrote to, and this caused him to thank
God. Blessed is the man who can look
into the mirror of the Word and see how it is actively working in his life, and
then give thanks to God because it works.
7. FIGHTING GOD Based on I Thess. 2:14-16
The first act of aggression by which one man attacked
another with intent to kill was motivated by religious intolerance. Cain could not stand to see Abel in better
harmony with God than himself, and the result was murder. This attitude of intolerance is found all
through the Old Testament. Israel could
tolerate false gods, but could not tolerate the prophets of the true God, and
so they killed them. We come to the New
Testament and see that one of the biggest factors in the crucifixion of Christ
was the religious intolerance of the Jewish leaders. This intolerance was focused on the church also. In spite of Gamaliel’s warning that they
might be fighting against God, they went on persecuting Christians, and they
did all they could to stop Paul. As
Paul write to the Thessalonians he is glad that they have stood firm in the
midst of persecution. Paul then seems
to release some of his feelings toward the Jews, an in so doing he opens for us
an interesting study in religious intolerance and righteous indignation.
I. RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE.
The Jews became exceedingly narrow minded, and they failed to
realize that God had chosen them to be servants in the world. They had the idea that they were chosen to
be privileged characters, and that God only loved them and had no concern for
the rest of the world. The prophets, of
course, made it clear that God had a universal love, but the people paid no
attention to the prophets. Having this
attitude caused them to fail in being God’s servant in reaching the rest of
mankind. When Christ came as a
suffering servant rather than a conquering king they killed him. Their bigotry made the idea of being
servants to the Gentiles very distasteful.
They were intolerant of any religious teaching that did not conform with
their own misconceptions.
Paul would be the last man to encourage anti-Semitism, but
he gives us here a list of facts that we cannot ignore. First of all the Jews killed the Lord Jesus
as he says in verse 15. The Catholic
Church has been debating whether or not to make this fact less forceful. Some want to make it clear that all men
killed the Lord Jesus, and in fact this is true. Jesus died for all of our sins, and it was the sins of all
people’s that put Him on the cross.
Historic accuracy, however, demands that we recognize that the anger,
intolerance and prejudice that nailed Him there was of the Jews. The Romans were only involved incidently
because of the circumstances of that day.
There was no malicious forethought on the part of any but the Jewish
leaders.
To despise Jews, as many have done through the ages, and to
hate them for this is totally non-biblical.
Jesus forgave them on the cross, and Paul in Romans says that he could
wish himself accursed if it would mean the salvation of the Jews. We do not have to deny or distort the facts
to love the Jews, and to feel love toward them, as all other men without
Christ. To try and deny that the Jews
killed Jesus is not biblical, and it serves no useful purpose. Since it has no bearing on how we treat them
or anyone else today, it is just a fact, and not the basis for any attitude or
action.
H. G. Enelow in the book A Jewish View Of Jesus tries to
reverse the whole account as it is biblically stated. He writes, “The Jewish trial described in the Gospel’s is so full
of irregularities and improbabilities that we may well assume that it
represents a later assumption rather than an actual fact.” He goes on, “On the other hand, it seems
most probable that Jesus was seized by the Roman government and tried and executed
by the orders of Pilate.” He gets the
Jews off all together, but honesty demands that we accept the record as it is,
and that we see the bigotry and religious intolerance of the Jews that lead
them to kill their prophets and their own Messiah.
Paul says they also drove us out. The Jews hated Paul after his conversion, and it was basically
because they could not tolerate the truth.
If Paul had become a quiet Christian he probably would not have had any
trouble, but he became zealous for the truth.
In Acts 9:22-24 we read, “But Paul increased the more in strength, and
confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very
Christ. An after that many days were
fulfilled, the Jews took council to kill him...and they watched the gates day
and night to kill him.” From that time
on the Jews were out to get Paul.
This is how far wrong people can go who are most sure they
are right. Everybody but us is
wrong. Unfortunately, such ridiculous
religious intolerance has not been monopolized by the Jews. John Wesley wrote, “The thing which I was
greatly afraid of all this time, and which I resolved to us every possible
method of preventing, was a narrowness of spirit, a party zeal....that most
miserable bigotry which makes many so unready to believe that there is any work
of God but among themselves.”
F. B. Speakman said there are two kinds of people: Those
who bring happiness wherever they go, and those who bring happiness whenever
they go, and the bigot fits the latter category. Paul in verse 16 says they did want the Gentiles to be
saved. Such narrowness is almost
inconceivable. Jonathan Swift has put
it into poetry.
We are God’s chosen few
All others will be damned;
There is no place in heaven
for you,
We can’t have heaven crammed.
Such was the extent to which
religious intolerance carried the Jews.
Now let’s consider the other factor in these verses.
II. RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION.
Paul could not tolerate such intolerance. It is the Gentiles who are persecuting the
Thessalonians, but Paul, who has suffered so much from the Jews, only mentions
the Gentiles, but goes into detail as to the bigotry of the Jews, and the wrath
that is theirs has a result. The words
of Ralph Korngold in a different setting would fit well in the mouth of Paul at
this point. “On this subject, I do not
wish to think, or speak, or write with moderation. No! No! Tell a man whose
house is on fire to give a moderate alarm.
Tell him to moderating rescue his wife from the hands of the
ravisher. Tell the mother to gradually
extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen-but urge me not to
use moderation in a cause like the present.”
There is a point where we cease to be tolerant and become
intolerant. A. W. Tozer writes about
Jesus and says, “The most intolerant man that ever walked this earth was Jesus
Christ our Lord. He wouldn’t tolerate
the devil, He wouldn’t tolerate sin. He
wouldn’t tolerate unbelief. He wouldn’t
tolerate Pharisees with their hypocrisy.
He wouldn’t tolerate the Saducees and scribes with their learned
pride. He tolerated harlots and babies
and publicans and sinners and bums and beatniks and scrubs off the street
corner, but He wouldn’t tolerate religious prissies and religious
hypocrites.”
Paul was fed up with the attitude of the Jews, and he says
God is fed up as well, and in righteous indignation wrath has fallen upon
them. Paul was practicing what he urged
others to do, and that was to be angry and sin not. In other words, there is a legitimate place for anger. The Christian cannot tolerate evil
indefinitely. We must be intolerant toward
intolerance. The danger, of course, is
in being angry and becoming as wicked as those with whom you are angry. The hatreds that caused persecution of
others are of Satan. Paul was
indignant, but he never fought back with physical force. His attitude was like that of the man in the
poem:
An when religious sects ran
mad,
He held, in spite of all his learning,
That if a man’s belief is
bad,
It will not be improved by burning.
Paul knew that judgment was not the task of the
church. The purpose of the church was
to win men, and that is why he practiced and preached love and gentleness. But now his subject has changed. He is talking about judgment and the wrath
of God, and the means to accomplish this purpose are completely different. Jesus never used force to save men. He is the Good Shepherd, and He leads the
lost back to the fold. But when we see
Him in the role of judgment, we see the whip in His hand, and He is driving men
out of the temple. It is important to
remember that Jesus used force to drive men out of the temple, but never to
drive them in. Judgment by its very
nature cannot be done gently.
What Paul is saying in verse 16 is that the killing of
Christ by the Jews was not what brought the wrath of God upon them. It was the fact that after He had risen, and
the church was carrying the Gospel of good news to all the world, that they
still opposed it and tried to stop it.
Paul says that this build up the measure of their sins. This was the last straw, and God could no
longer tolerate their intolerance. The
Berkeley Verison has it, “But divine indignation has at last overtaken
them.” The Amplified Version has it,
“But God’s wrath has come upon them at last-completely and forever.”
There is a point beyond which the tolerance and
longsuffering of God cannot go. They
killed the prophets and His Son, and yet He gave them a chance to repent, and
many did at Pentecost. But for those
who went on to oppose God’s final plan in history, which was the plan to carry
the Gospel into all the world, the wrath of God fell finally and completely,
and the old Israel was cut off.
Only a few years after Paul wrote this the nation of Israel
was uttering defeated and Jerusalem was totally destroyed. What Jesus had predicted came to pass, and
not one stone of the temple was left on another. There has arisen a system of theology that demands that the Jews
face a great tribulation after the church has been raptured, but both Paul and
Jesus made it clear that they have already suffered God’s wrath to the
uttermost. When the Jews cried out
before Pilate, “Let His blood be upon us and our children,” God granted that
request to the very people who made it.
Listen to Jesus denounce the Jewish leaders for killing God’s prophets
and Apostles in Luke 11:50-51: “That the blood of all the prophets, which was
shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation: From
the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the alter
and the temple, verily I say unto you, it shall be required of this
generation.”
When women wept as Jesus was led to the cross He said in
Luke 23:28 “Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves,
and for your children.” Why? It was because the wrath of God coming upon
them to the uttermost. Rabbi Samuel
Moraccanus said back in the 11th century, “I would fain learn from
thee, out of the testimonies of the law, and the prophets, and other
Scriptures, why the Jews are thus smitten in this captivity wherein we are,
which may be properly termed the perpetual anger of God, because it hath no
end. For it is now above a thousand
years since we were carried captive by Titus, and yet our fathers, who
worshiped idols, killed the prophets, and cast the law behind their back, were
only punished with a 70 years captivity, and then brought home again; but now
there is no end of our calamities, nor do the prophets promise any.”
From 70 A. D. on the Jews have been cut off as the people
of God, and God’s righteous indignation has come upon them in wrath and
judgment. Why? Why does even a righteous, lovely,
longsuffering God act in wrath? It is
because of intolerance and bigotry.
What a warning for the church, for Paul says in Romans that as the Jews
were cut off so can the Gentile church be cut off because it is only grafted
in. We cannot face a wicked world and
not be indignant at its wickedness. We
cannot tolerate religious intolerance, but we must fight it with love and the
sword of the Spirit, but let us beware of becoming bigoted and intolerant of
others lest we too be found to be fighting God.
8. SATAN’S HINDRANCE Based on I Thess. 2:17-20
Children are constantly coming up with that profound argument
that they feel is an infallible guide to what ought to be-“But I wanna.” I remember explaining to Steven one time
that we don’t always get to do what we want, and Cindy felt that was good
advice. So the next time he was refused
and hollered out his most powerful argument, “But I want to!” Lavonne and I were delighted when in all
seriousness Cindy said, “But Steven, we don’t always get what we want you
know.” That advice, like most advice,
is only remembered to be given away and not to be applied, for Cindy herself
became convinced that “I want to,” is the ultimate argument.
Adults have the same problem. We have desires and wants we would like to fulfill, but we are
hindered and frustrated and we wonder why?
Paul had this problem also. He
was eagerly trying to get back to Thessalonika. His desire to do was great, and he wanted desperately to get back
there. But when he couldn’t fulfill
that desire, he did not say it must be the Lord’s will, but he said instead
that Satan hindered him. We want to
consider this adversary of Paul and the attitude he had about this
adversary.
I. PAUL’S ADVERSARY.
The first thing we see from the context is that Paul did
not use Satan as a scapegoat for all evil.
He had just given a blistering denunciation of the Jews without
mentioning Satan. He did not doubt that
Satan was the instigator of it all, but those who follow Satan are guilty by
their own choice, and the blame cannot be thrown off of them. Satan caused the fall of Adam and Eve too,
but they were punished and were not excused on the basis of a scapegoat. We need to have some understanding of this
adversary, and so we will look at a few facts.
A. HIS ORIGIN.
The church has always agreed that Satan is a created being,
and that he was created holy. E. M.
Bounds wrote, “We have no genesis of the devil in the Bible as a direct
statement.” The Bible is only concerned
with his history in relation to humanity.
The curtain is drawn and the main actors are already on the stage. Isa. 14: and Ezek. 28 are passages often
used to get information about Satan.
The text actually refer to the king of Babylon and Tyre. When we were assigned to do research on Isa.
14:12 in the Seminary, which reads, “How art thou fallen from heaven, O
Lucifer, son of the morning.” Not one
of the great commentaries saw a reference to Satan. Those who feel these texts do refer to Satan say that this was
before he was cast out of heaven. They
see this as yet future just before a great tribulation.
In spite of the lack of a definite statement the tradition
of the church has been that Satan was a perfect angel, and possibly even the
highest angel. It was because of pride
that he rebelled against God, and others followed him and were cast out of
heaven. Jude 6 says, “And the angels
which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath
reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the last day.” In the Jewish tradition man played a major
role in the fall of Satan and his angels.
In The Books of Adam and Eve Satan gives his own account of why he
fell. God created Adam and Eve and then
commanded the angels to worship them.
The following is Satan’s response:
“Michael also
brought thee and made us worship thee in the
sight of God; and God the Lord spoke: ‘Here is Adam. I have
made thee in my own image
and likeness.’ And Michael went
out and called all the
angels, ‘Worship the image of God as the
Lord God hath
commanded.’ And Michael himself
worshiped
first; then he called me and
said, ‘Worship the image of God
the Lord.’ And I answered, ‘I have no need to worship
Adam.”
And since Michael kept
urging me to worship, I said to him,
‘Why dost thou urge me? I will not worship an inferior and
younger being than I. I am his senior in the creation, before
he was made was I already
made. It is his duty to worship
me.’”
The result was that he was cast out with others, and in revenge
he tempted Eve and got them cast out of Eden.
It is a case of misery loving company.
This idea has been held by some Christian theologians, and a number feel
that it was Satan’s aggravation with man in some form that lead to his
rebellion.
B. HIS OCCUPATION.
Jesus went about doing good, and Satan goes about devouring
good. Jesus came to serve, but all that
Satan does is for the disservice of man.
In his pride Satan hates the concept of service. Milton puts these words in his mouth:
“Better to reign in hell then serve in heaven.” Only three times does Satan speak in the Bible: To Eve, to Job
and to Jesus. Most of his
destructiveness is through action.
Being a spiritual being he cannot affect us directly, but he can use
means. He can inspire and encourage
that which is immoral, and by external means cause men to chose evil rather
than good.
Charles Moeller, a Catholic author, wrote, “The sanctuary
of free will, of the spirit, remains entirely inaccessible to the devil; he can
never act directly upon the spiritual faculties of man, but only indirectly by
disturbing from outside the sensible equipment (the body, the senses, material
objects and so on) used by the soul for the realization of spiritual activity.” This is why he failed to tempt Christ to
sin. Jesus did not respond to any of
his lures. Eve did, and every time we
sin we chose to respond to something external.
Paul’s being hindered by Satan was some external force that did not
affect Paul’s inner man at all. And we
want to consider Paul’s attitude toward this adversary.
II. PAUL’S ATTITUDE.
Paul was no pessimist.
He was hindered by Satan, but he never sat down and gave up. He didn’t get to do what he wanted, but he did
not, like an immature child, say, “But I want to.” Paul rejoiced in spite of his frustration because in spite of the
hindrance he had perfect confidence that ultimate victory would be his. He bypasses Satan’s present hindrance, and
he sees beyond to the glorious day to Christ’s coming. He knows whether or not he ever sees the
Thessalonians again before that day, he will see them then, and they will be
his crown and joy. What a day that will
be for Paul, and what a day for all of us, for we will recognize one another and
rejoice together.
It is no wonder that though he was bothered by Satan Paul
was never beaten. Satan was his foe in
the battle for men’s souls, but Paul knew that Satan could not halt the Gospel,
even if he could hinder it. Why did he
have such assurance? It was because he
had the word of his Lord who saved him and commissioned him. We read in Acts 26:15-18, “Then I asked, who
are you Lord? “I am Jesus, whom you are
persecuting,” the Lord replied. “Now
get up and stand on your feet. I have
appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have
seen of me and what I will show you. I
will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to open their eyes and turn
them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they
may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by
faith in me.”
The most important thing we can know about Satan is that
Jesus has defeated him. All the
teaching of the Bible about Satan centers in the Christ event, which includes
His life, death, resurrection, ascension and second coming. This means that we must find a middle ground
between the view that sees Satan cast out of heaven in the ancient past, and
the view that sees this event in the future.
We find this middle ground just where we should expect to find it. It is at the central event of all time-the
cross. Jesus said that if He was lifted
up He would draw all men to Him, for the power of Satan over them would no
longer be unbreakable.
Consider some primary passages from the words of
Christ. Luke 10:17-20 says, “The
seventy-two returned with joy and said, ‘Lord, even the demons submit to us in
your name.’ He replied, ‘I saw Satan fall
like lightening from heaven. I have
given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the
power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.
However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that
your names are written in heaven.’” How was it possible to invade the domain of
Satan? It was because Jesus had already
defeated Satan in the wilderness, and he invaded his domain over sickness and
disease. On the cross Jesus would enter
Satan’s realm of death and personally bind him. In Matt. 12:26-29 we read Jesus saying, “If Satan drives out
Satan he is divided against himself.
How then can his kingdom stand?
And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive
them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the spirit of
God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off
his positions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house.”
Paul uses strong language to emphasize the victory of
Christ. He writes in Col. 1:13, “He has
delivered us from the control of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom
of the Son of his love.” In 2:14-15 he
writes, “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinance that was against
us...nailing it to His cross, and having spoiled principalities and powers, he
made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.” John wrote in I John 3:8, “For this purpose
the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the
devil.” In Heb. 2:14 we read, “That
through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the
devil.”
All of the biblical writers recognized that Satan still has power,
and that we are to be cautious in our battle with him. All our confident that with the whole armor
of God we can not only resist him, but defeat him, and even invade his kingdom
of darkness with the light of the Gospel and rescue those who are bound by
him. Satan is bound right now in the
only sense that the New Testament says he will ever be bound until his final
doom. And that is in the sense that he
can no longer deceive the nations. That
is why the Great Commission of preaching the Gospel in all the world can be
fulfilled. It is confidence in the
power of Jesus to gain the victory that motivates the world wide program of the
church. Greater is He that is in us than
he who is in the world.
Paul knew where he was going, and though he did not always
get what he wanted, he knew God would accomplish all that He wanted, and with
that attitude even the devil cannot rob him of his joy in the service of
Christ. If you cannot accomplish what
you want for the Lord, never be discouraged, but look beyond to the assured
victory when you experience Satan’s hindrance.
One of our neighbors had a common but nerve wracking
experience. Her little girl did not
come home from school at noon. She got
worried and went out to look for her, but she was no where around. The mother was just sick with worry as the
worst possible thoughts went through her mind.
She sought the help of a policewoman at the school, and she drove her
through the area and they found the little girl playing at a friend’s
house. It all ended well, but the
mother was so upset she could not eat for the rest of the day.
Was her attitude of anxiety a sign of the lack of
faith? Not at all, for it was a sign of
the presence of love. Persons and
things are in two different categories.
It is a virtue to have great concern for persons. Jesus wept for them and died for them. It is a vice only when we transfer such deep
concern to things. It is when we get
upset and anxious about the rug, the car and the golf clubs that we are in
danger of sin, but to feel deep concern for persons has all the weight of
Scripture to support it as a virtue.
Jesus made it clear that we are not to worry about tomorrow, or about
any of the necessities of life. Paul
said we are to be anxious for nothing.
Both of them, however, made it clear by example and exhortation that we
are to have care for persons. We want
to examine our text to see Paul’s anxious affection and the cause of his
concern, which is appointed affliction.
I. PAUL’S ANXIOUS AFFECTION.
In chapter two Paul said that he was gentle like a mother
to them. He exhorted, comforted and
charged them like a father. Now he
carries on the role of an anxious parent who does not know what is happening to
his child in a dangerous situation.
With all of Paul’s assurance of eternal security, he never used that
doctrine as a basis for indifference.
He was concerned about these new converts, and verse 5 shows just how
concerned he was. With all of his
assurance he never underestimated the power of the enemy. He believed the message of the parable of
the soils that Jesus taught, which made it clear that Satan can snatch the seed
away. Even where it begins to grow it
can be destroyed before it becomes fruit.
Jesus said that persecution made some whither before they became
fruitful, and Paul was concerned that this could happen to his converts.
Paul was anxious about them. He was no “love them and leave them” evangelist. He knew that his work was not completed
until they were established and able to meet the enemy and conquer. He believed in a strong followup
program. Most of the New Testament is
followup literature. Paul is writing
this letter to strengthen them so that they might be grounded in the
faith. It is this kind of anxious
affection that drives us to care to the point of sacrifice. This should characterize all believers, for
there is always danger that fellow believers will fall back.
Paul says that he couldn’t stand it any longer not knowing
how they were standing up under affliction.
He chose the difficult path of personal loneliness in order to send
Timothy to help them and bring word back to him. It was no small sacrifice to give up his only Christian
companionship and be left alone in Athens.
Paul was a man who counted a great deal on his companions as he traveled
about in a pagan world. He always had a
Titus, a Timothy, or a Silas at his side.
Jesus taught that disciples should go two by two, for our relationship
to God has a social aspect as well as the personal aspect. He said that where two or three are gathered
in His name He will be present. Paul
was willing to give up this fellowship and suffer loneliness that he might aid
these new Christians. Calvin put it,
“He chose rather to be left alone than that they should be deserted.” What was it that made Paul so concerned
about them? It was-
II. THEIR APPOINTED AFFLICTION.
It is the appointed
lot of the Christian to suffer affliction, or as the same word is translated in
verse 4, tribulation. This does not
mean God arranged it and brought it to pass, but that it is the inevitable
result of standing for a minority concept that clashed with the prejudice of
the majority. As far as possible the
Christian is to live peaceably with all men.
The ideal is progress without persecution, but the world will not
tolerate the Christian conviction, and so there will be tribulation, and we
must be prepared to face it if we stand for the truth as we ought.
The hope of the Old Testament saints was for a land of
plenty and peace, but the promise for the New Israel is that in the world we
shall have tribulation. This contrast
is seen in the fact that all 12 patriarchs of the Old Testament died of old age
in peace, but all 12 Apostles died the violent death of martyrs. The word tribulation is used 21 times in the
King James Version of the New Testament.
The word affliction is used 17 times, and all of them are translations
of the Greek word thlipsis. Out of
these 39 uses of the word 35 of them refer to the lot of the believer. How can this be reconciled with the concept
that the church has a promise to escape tribulation?
In verse 4 Paul says that he told them before what to
expect if the took a stand. Paul never
told his converts that the battle was over, but rather, that it was just the
beginning. He never slapped them on the
back and said everything is going to be great from now on . He warned them in all seriousness that they
might have to pay with their lives for the sake of the Gospel. The Apostle John said that the anti-Christ
is already working, and this implied that Christians will have to face all the
forces of hell before the battle is over.
Jesus and all of the Apostles warned the church before hand that there
is no promise of escape from tribulation.
Instead, they make it clear that we are appointed unto affliction.
Jesus said to His disciples in John 15:18, “If the world
hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you.” In verse 20 he said, “If they have
persecuted me, they will also persecute you.”
Why did Jesus spend so much time telling His disciples of the dangers
ahead? It is for the same reason that
Paul told them, and that was so they might be prepared to face them. Jesus said in John 16:1-4, “All this I have
told you so that you will not go astray.
They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when
anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. They will do such things because they have
not known the Father or me. I have told
you this, so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned
you.” Then he says in verse 33, “I have
told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
In the discourse of Matt. 24 Jesus talks of the great
tribulation, the like of which has never been an will never be again. This is that wrath of God that fell upon the
Jews that Paul referred to in 2:16. The
parallel passages in Luke and Mark will leave your mind in no doubt that this
was the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.
The Christians were involved in this because the Jews were persecuting
them, and that is one of the reasons the wrath of God fell. The same word Jesus used of the great
tribulation in Matt. 24 is used to describe the Jewish persecution of the
church in Acts 11:19, where we read, “Now they which were scattered abroad upon
the persecution that arose about Stephen traveled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus
etc.” What kind of persecution was
this? It was a great tribulation.
In Acts 8:1-3 we read, “On that day a great persecution
broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the Apostles were
scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned
deeply for him. But Saul began to
destroy the church. Going from house to
house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.” Paul was a part of it, and he knew from
experience the hate of blinded men to the truth. The two words great and tribulation are connected again in
reference to the churches of Macedonia in II Cor. 8:2, which says, “Out of the
most severe trial...” In spite of this
trial they sacrificed to help others in their trouble.
If you look up tribulation and affliction in a concordance
you will have abundant proof that the promise of escape from tribulation is a
product of wishful thinking, and not a message you get from the Word of
God. Paul was dealing with Christians
in all honesty by forewarning them that we are appointed to affliction.
10. A STEADFAST FAITH Based on I Thess. 3:5-8
To make no gain for one’s labor is a perfectly natural cause
for disappointment. Jesus knew this
feeling often as His disciples failed to grasp His teaching, and especially
when Judas betrayed Him. Paul knew it
well when he wrote with a saddened heart that Demas had forsaken him. Many have trained up a child in the way he
should go, but then see them depart from it.
Many are those whose labors have been in vain because those with whom
they labored did not have a steadfast faith.
It is important that we recognize that proverbs are not the
same as promises. Our faith will be
weakened if we assume that following a proverb is a certain thing. The proverb about training up a child in
the right way as the best insurance of a good adulthood is obvious wisdom, but
it is no guarantee of the result in every case. The best example of an exception was the very man who wrote the
proverb. Solomon departed far from all
he was taught, and this wisest of men became a fool. The Bible could not be clearer on the matter that a good start
without a good finish is of little value.
Christ is the alpha and omega, and he who starts with Christ must end
with Christ, and so the challenge to persevere runs all through the New Testament. It is he who endures to the end that shall
be saved.
This concept is obvious in other realms of life. It is not the marriage ceremony that
determines the value of a marriage. It
is the perseverance to the end that counts.
The good start is easy and everyone can make a good start. Many, however, cannot persevere to the end,
but become matrimonial apostates. It is
easy to start the race, but the finish is what really matters, and so it is in
the Christian life. It is one thing to
start on the way, and another thing to keep going all the way. What we really need is not starting power
but staying power, and Paul makes it clear in these verses that the source of
that staying power that perseveres regardless of circumstances is a steadfast
faith.
In the whole book of I Thessalonians Paul uses the word
faith 8 times, but 5 of those 8 are all packed into chapter 3:2-10, where he
deals with the their trials, and the victory gained by steadfast faith. If you read this section carefully, noting
the use of the word faith, you will see how significant Paul felt it to
be. It was his object of concern, and
Satan’s object of attack. It was their
cause for victory, and Paul’s cause for rejoicing. We want to look at the basic characteristic of a steadfast faith
that is brought out in these verses.
A steadfast faith is an overcoming faith. The very idea of a steadfast faith implies
that it is being attacked, and that there is some power trying to overcome it. This is also what makes faith a living thing
rather than a lethargic thing. As
Gerhard Ebling said, “Faith would cease to be faith if it were not
threatened.” A faith which can be taken
with no struggle and no cost is not likely to play a vital role in one’s
life. It is in this sense that God uses
affliction for good by making our faith a living and steadfast faith. It is for this end that He allows Satan to
tempt us.
It is never the external circumstances, but the internal
response that makes the difference between a strong and a weak faith. Paul did not know how the Thessalonians
reacted, and this was what was causing his anxiety. He didn’t ask Timothy to go and find out how bad things were, but
to know their faith, because that is the deciding factor. If it is strong, nothing can make any
difference. If it is weak anything can
cause them to fall. It is important to
recognize this. We have mentioned it
before in our study of Satan that there is nothing he can do directly on our
will to cause it to choose evil. He can
only use means to influence the will.
God’s promise to the believer is that He will not allow us to be tempted
above what we are able to endure. This
means that there is nothing that can happen to the Christian that in itself as
the power to cause him to fall.
God will never permit anything that would certainly defeat
His child. Where then do we look for
the cause of casualties in the battle with Satan? We look at the nature of the faith in a person, just as Paul did,
and if it does not exhibit a power to overcome temptation, trial and
discouragement, we know that such a person is at a great disadvantage against
Satan. The power to overcome is basic
to a good finish in the Christian race.
The basic Greek word for overcome, which is used all through the New
Testament, means to gain the victory.
It is used by Jesus in Luke 11:22 in reference to His victory over Satan
in casting out demons. In John 16:33
Jesus said, “Be of good cheer. I have
overcome the world.” Paul in Rom. 12:21
writes about not being overcome of evil, but to overcome evil with good.
The Apostle John uses this word often. All of the blessings to the 7 churches in
Rev.2and 3 are promised to those who overcome.
In I John 2:13 he writes, “I write unto you young men because you have
overcome the wicked one.” When he
writes of the spirit of anti-Christ he says in 4:4, “You are of God, little
children, and have overcome them, because great is He that is in you, then he
that is in the world.” And then there
is that well known verse that brings us back to faith from where we
started. I John 5:4 says, “For
whosoever is born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that
overcomes the world, even our faith.”
All of this is
conclusive evidence that a steadfast faith is the most basic factor in the
defensive warfare against the world, the flesh and the devil. It alone can bring us across the finish
line. Paul says in verse 5 that he is
bothered lest by some means the tempter has tempted you, and are labor has been
in vain. The crisis comes when faith is
challenged, and how it reacts will either weaken it or strengthen it. That is why it is so important to recognize
the means by which Satan seeks to ensnare us.
Ignorance is always on the devil’s side. An example out of my own
experience will be of great prophet to all of us in quenching the fiery darts
of devilish deception.
An obsession is a powerful psychological means by which
Satan can attack the believer. An
obsession is an idea that thrusts itself upon your consciousness against your
will. It might be something like the
thought of going around in a revolving door, or over and over again in a swing
going around a limb. You have to grit
your teeth and by sheer will power force it out of your consciousness. I have little doubt that such obsessions
lead to many of the horrible and brutal acts of people. I had a friend in the ministry who was
almost overcome by an obsession. He
woke up in the night in a cold sweat.
He couldn’t shake the idea out of his mind of taking his hunting knife
and cutting his children. He never had
such an experience before, and he was scared to death. He thought he was losing his mind.
I had some experience with obsession concerning my fear of
heights. I assured him when he came to
me for counseling that there was nothing abnormal about an obsession. I did some study on the matter and
discovered it to be very common. The
circumstances of his life, and the pressures he was under, plus his fatigue
made the possibility of his obsession perfectly normal. Satan uses such circumstances to his
advantage, and he no doubt wins many victories because believers lack the faith
necessary to stand fast and conquer. He
gets many believers obsessed with the fear that they have committed the
unpardonable sin.
If a very evil obsession should grasp your consciousness,
there is not the least reason to try and suppress it in fear. An overcoming faith recognizes that God
knows all. He knows that this is not in
my consciousness by choice. He knows
that in the depths of my heart that I love Him, and that I know He loves me. Instead of suppression, which can lead to
all sorts of neurotic ills, the believer enters the presence of God with his
obsession, and observes the activity of the mind. Then he asks God to cleanse the mind. You renew your commitment and forget the obsession. Absolute honesty in the presence of God is
what keeps you mentally healthy.
If it seems I have labored a point which is irrelevant to
you, it is only because you are one of those whose emotional makeup does not
allow Satan to use this means against you.
Recent studies, however, indicate that one of Satan’s greatest weapons
within the church is psychological warfare.
We are assured that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power,
of love and of a sound mind. If it is
true that the faith of many is being weakened by psychological warfare, it is
an indication that they are ignorant of Satan’s devices. They are being overcome when informed faith
could enable them to gain the victory.
The Thessalonians faced this inner battle as well as the
outward persecution. The foundations of
their faith were challenged with arguments against Paul’s character, but Paul
had the delight in seeing them come through with a steadfast faith. It was like a new breath of life to him,
because he had been so weighted down with the suspense of not knowing how they
reacted. If this was Paul’s attitude,
let it be ours as well. Let us not be
content with a good start. Training is
one thing and actual combat is another.
Let us not be deceived into thinking that a child is able to combat the
foes of darkness because he knows that David was a shepherd boy who became
king, and Daniel was protected from lions.
They must be trained to withstand the dangers that face them. Whether we like it or not our young people
will mix with non-Christian youth whose language, thoughts and attitudes will
be expressed. Paul only had several
weeks to prepare his converts for the battle, and though he was worried sick,
he succeeded. May God help us as a
church and as parents to equip our youth with an overcoming faith that will be
a steadfast faith that will take them all the way to the end of the race.
11. THE IMPOSSIBLE IS INDISPENSABLE I Thess. 3:9‑10
The concept of the impossible changes from generation to
generation. Much of what we do
today was once thought to be
impossible. Because of this, we are
more cautious today in what we include in the category of the impossible. We are no longer quick to say it can't be
done. What is apparently impossible no
longer causes a defeatist attitude in which no attempt is even made. Men go ahead and often discover that what
was thought to be impossible is not only possible, but even indispensable to
further progress. To attempt the
impossible is essential for growth in the scientific, social, and spiritual realms, for in each we find
that what is apparently impossible is absolutely indispensable.
We know for example that deadly poisons such as sodium and
chlorine are incompatible with life, and yet, their combination which makes
salt is necessary for life. In other
words, the very elements that can make the ongoing of life impossible are
indispensable for the ongoing of life.
We know that oxygen is highly flammable, and is essential to the existence
of fire, and that hydrogen will also readily burn. A commonsense conclusion based on these facts would be, that it
is impossible to put out a fire with two such flammable gases, but in reality,
they are the two most indispensable fire fighting elements, for their combination makes H20, or water. So we
add two poisons and get life preserving salt; we add two flammable gases, and
get a fire extinguisher.
Physical reality is filled with mysterious paradoxes, and so
it ought not be surprising when we find them in the spiritual realm. The cross is the most magnificent of
paradoxes. This greatest of man's acts
of evil and hatred is the means whereby God redeemed us from evil and
hate. It is both a symbol of man's sin,
and of God's salvation. Life from death
would seem to be impossible, but the death of Christ was indispensable if we
were to have eternal life. In all
realms of reality we find that the paradoxical and apparently impossible are
very real. In verse 9 Paul is speaking
of an indispensable impossibility in the Christian life, for in this verse he
brings out the fact that‑
I. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO EXPRESS AN ADEQUATE THANKS TO GOD.
Alfred Plummer in his study of the Greek says, "The
question implies that an adequate thanksgiving is impossible." When Paul heard the good news that these
Christians did not lose their faith when confronted with temptation and
tribulation, he was so overjoyed he was tongue‑tied in the presence of
God. He didn't know what to say because
he was so thankful.
Certainly all of us have had the experience of not knowing how
to express our gratitude. Thanks
sometimes seems so inadequate, and even when we add thanks so very much, and
thanks a million, it leaves us with a sense of having very poorly expressed how
we feel. How much more impossible is it
to express our thanks to God for His mercy, love, and blessings? Paul had this experience time and time again,
and on one occasion when he was considering the greatest of all God's gifts, he
burst out with a shout, "Thanks be to God for His inexpressible
gift." The point is, Paul knew it
was impossible to ever thank God enough.
He knew there was no way that human language could adequately express
the thanks due unto God, but he did not let the fact that it was impossible
stop him from making the attempt. On
the contrary, thanksgiving was an indispensable part of his life.
The gift of God was inexpressible, but that did not stop Paul
from spending his whole life trying to express it. Paul could never thank God enough for the way He used him to
establish churches and win men to Christ, but he never ceased to try.
Rom. 1:8, "I thank my
God through Jesus Christ for you all...."
I Cor. 1:4, "I thank my
God always on your behalf..."
Eph. 1:16, "..Cease not
to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers."
Phil. 1:3, "I thank my
God upon every remembrance of you."
Col. 1:3, "We give
thanks to God....praying always for you."
I Thess. 5:18, "In
everything give thanks, for this is the will of God...."
Paul knew it was impossible to be thankful enough, but
nevertheless, it is indispensable in the life of one who loves Christ. Paul was a grateful man, and that is why he was
a great man. Paul was never complaining
in spite of all the problems he had. He
was so busy attempting to express the inexpressible, and do the impossible,
there was no time left for negative trivialities.
When thou hast truly thanked
thy God
For every blessing sent,
But little time will then
remain
For murmur or lament.
Some years back a young man in Germany was laying on an
operating table. The surgeon approached
him and said, "My friend you have now an opportunity to say something, but
remember, they shall be the last words you will speak. He had cancer of the tongue, and was about
to lose that organ of speech. After
some thought, his lips parted, and his words brought a visible emotional
response from those listening. He said,
"Thank God for Jesus Christ."
Here was another attempt at thanking God for his inexpressible
gift. All the words of a lifetime
cannot do it adequately, but what could be more appropriate than using one's
last words in an attempt.
The very fact that it is impossible to thank God enough is
what makes it indispensable that we thank Him all we can. This impossibility is to be a challenge that
pushes us on, not a crushing idea that paralyzes us into inactivity and
frustration. It is impossible to gain
all knowledge of the Bible, but that ought not to cause us to give up in
despair, but rather to be all the more ambitious in learning all we can. In the face of the impossible task of
thanking God for what He has already done, Paul does a very interesting thing
in verse 10: He asks for further
blessings. Paul did not say, Lord I'll
never be able to thank you for what you have done, so I'll never ask you for
anything again. You have heard of
people in desperate need say something like that. Lord, here me now, and I'll never ask you for another thing. This is sheer nonsense. Paul reveals the true spirit and says when
his cup is overflowing, give me a larger cup, for I want even more of your
blessings.
Paul wasn't worried about going over his head in debt to
God. He knew he would be eternally in
the red anyway, and so with true wisdom he concluded the best way to attempt
the impossible task of thanking God is to increase his capacity to receive more
of God's blessings. The poet expresses
the feelings of many Christians.
My cup is full; yet oft I
think
It holds scarce anything at all!
Not because life lacks
abundance,
But because my cup is small!
Paul's prayer is, Lord help me to thank you by being of greater service, and,
thereby, expanding the cup. Helen
Keller said, "There is no lovelier way to thank God for your sight than by
giving a helping hand to someone in the dark."
Another major attitude of Paul's thanksgiving is the sense of
humility that underlies it. Paul had
done all the work among these Christians.
He did the preaching, and it was his labor that he feared could be in
vain. Yet, when the good news of
success came, he did not congratulate himself on his good work. He knows he only planted and watered, but
that it was God who gave the increase.
Sometimes Paul seems to almost be bragging when he defends himself as to
his character and conduct, but when it comes right down to the ultimate source
of their steadfastness, he takes no credit, but thanks God.
J. C. Ryle wrote, "Thankfulness is a flower that will
never bloom well excepting upon a root of deep humility." Humility recognizes that we have received
what we do not deserve, and that produces the spirit of thankfulness. This is why the proud are not thankful. Grace is not in the vocabulary of their
experience. They feel they merit all
they have, and owe no one any thanks.
Pride leads to ingratitude, and ingratitude leads to all other sins. That is why Shakespeare says,
I hate ingratitude more in a
man
Than lying, vainness, babbling drunkenness,
Or any taint of vice whose
strong corruption
Inhabits our frail blood.
Ingratitude turns the child against his parents, society, his
country, and God, and leaves him totally self‑centered, and capable of
betraying anyone or anything. On the
other hand, humility that recognizes that all he has done equals nothing
without the grace of God, leads to a grateful heart. And one whose heart is grateful to God will be a trustworthy
person, for he will attempt in every realm of life to express his thankfulness
to God. Gratitude leads to happy
people, families, citizens, and servants.
In 1519 Cortez landed in Mexico, and left a bloody trail as he
conquered many Indians with 500 men who were seeking gold. In 1620 the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth
seeking freedom to worship God, and their hearts were filled with
thankfulness. The history of the two
countries is an illustration of the difference between building on selfishness
or thankfulness. A little girl at a
banquet paused before she told what she was thankful for, and then she said,
"I'm thankful that I'm thankful."
May God help us to recognize with Paul that though it is impossible to
thank God adequately, it is indispensable that we thank Him always, and like
the little girl, be thankful that we are thankful.
12. DIVINE DIRECTION Based on I Thess. 3:10-13
A common saying that has become well-known is, “Truth is
stranger than fiction.” When one begins
to study what has really happened in history he discovers that reality if just
as amazing and interesting as anything that could be invented. For example, I read the story of a drifter
in Australia who saw an ad in a year old American newspaper he found in the
desert. His name was Tom Ellis, and the
ad was about a correspondence course in electricity. He had no money, but he wrote explaining his situation and
interest. His need appealed to the
chief engineer of the school, who was Fenton L. Howard. He taught Tom Ellis through the mail for
several years without any payments.
Seventeen years later during World War II Fenton Howard
was a navel electrician aboard a U. S. ship in the Pacific. A generator blew apart and he was critically
injured. An SOS was sent out and
answered by an Australian ship whose electrician installed a motor so the
American ship could limp home. It did
just that in time to save the life of Fenton Howard. The amazing fact in the story is that the Australian electrician
was none other than Tom Ellis, whom Fenton Howard had taught across thousands
of miles. The payment was long in
coming, but when it came, it came with interest, for the student saved the life
of the teacher.
You can call such an experience luck, chance or
coincidence, and you could not be disproved, for there are things that happen
in life that are not God’s intention, and they are beyond man to foresee. A flip of the coin could be predicted if all
the factors were known before hand, but since they are not, and since they very
with every flip, it is considered a matter of chance. God does not determine which it will be, and man cannot determine
which it will be, and so we call it chance.
Jesus did not hesitate to use the word.
He said in Luke 10:31, “And by chance there came down a certain
priest...” He means that it just
happened that he came by just as the man who was beaten was laying there. The providence of God was to be seen in the
Good Samaritan who showed compassion, but not in the priest who just happened
by.
This brings us to our text. Paul is praying for divine direction. He is asking God to providentially work in his life so as to
bring him back to the Thessalonians.
This clearly implies that not all that happens is God’s providence, for
what is the need for praying for specific divine direction if all that life
brings us is his pre-determined direction anyway. It puts prayer on a very high level to see that it can actually
help determine the future course of life and history. To believe this, however, is to come into apparent conflict with
the scientific world view. For the
scientist all effects have a cause, and these causes can be verified, and so
there is no room for God to break into the chain of cause and effect to alter
what is to be. In other words, the
scientific world view is determinism.
Many theologians have this same pattern of thinking. They have such a rigid concept of
predestination that God’s hands are tied.
A more adequate concept is brought out in Karl Heim’s book
Transformation Of The Scientific World View.
He pictures God’s relationship to history like newspaper press. Once the type is set in presses all that
comes out on the printed copies is completely predetermined. But anytime he wishes the editor can stop
the presses and insert new type, and this changes the material on subsequent
copies. Christians agree with the
scientific world view that every effect has a cause, but they just recognize
that the greatest of those causes is the will of God. When He acts providentially
in history, He does not intervene in the sense that He makes shambles of
the law of cause and effect. He simply
becomes a stronger cause to alter what natural causes would have produced had
He not intervened. Providence breaks no
laws any more than an airplane does when it overcomes the law of gravity by a
greater cause.
Paul is simply praying that God will providentially work in
the future so as to assure His seeing them again face to face. We want to examine the basis on which Paul
makes this request for divine direction.
I. PAUL’S PETITION.
The word here is stronger than just prayer. It is supplication. There is a fervency in his petition that
matches the great gratitude which he had.
The significant factor, however, is the qualitative nature of Paul’s
request. He did not seek divine
direction for any self-centered purpose.
It was totally for the sake of service, and in order that he might
perfect their faith. We cannot pray
too earnestly, but we can pray too selfishly.
A. W. Tozer felt that too much prayer is “A heavenly method of achieving
earthly success.” He felt there were
many so-called Christian projects afloat in the world calling on the saints to
pray and give that were nothing more than schemes to relieve men of earning an
honest living. He said, “Selfishness is
never so exquisitely selfish as when it is on its knees.”
We find none of this in Paul. His prayer was always, “Lord give me that I may give.” Prayer to him was a power for service and
not a power to gain service. Paul was
never satisfied short of perfection. He
never reached it, but he kept pressing on.
He couldn’t thank God enough for the faith of the Thessalonians that
caused them to stand fast in tribulation and temptation. Standing fast did not mean standing still
for Paul. It was marvelous what they
did, but Paul did not see life through rose colored glasses. Just because they made a great showing did
not mean they were mature in the faith yet.
He recognized they had much to learn, and it was his goal to see that
they learned it.
Calvin saw in Paul’s attitude the importance of Christian
teaching. He wrote, “From this it is clear
how much we must devote ourselves to teaching.
For teachers were not ordained only that in one day or in one month they
should bring men to the faith of Christ, but that they should bring to
completion the faith that has just begun.”
This does not mean that we cannot be fully committed until we know all
things. Someone said that when Columbus
started out he did not know where he was going. When he arrived he did not know where he was. When he returned he did not know where he
had been, but all the same he discovered America. We can know and experience fellowship with God in spite of a lack
of knowledge, but as we gain more and more of that knowledge, we increase our
capacity for service to others.
God is an unlimited source of power, but we can only draw
on that source in accord with our capacity.
The fact that a 40 watt bulb does not give adequate light to read by is
not due to lack in the source of the power, but in the instrument that puts that
power into service. A 100 watt bulb does
not add to the source, but merely increases the capacity to draw on the source
for greater power of service. This is
why Christians should have a hunger to know the Word so as to perfect their
faith, and that they might thereby increase their capacity to be used of God in
service to others. If this is not our
desire, as it was Paul’s, on what basis can we ask God for His providential
guidance?
In verse 12 we see Paul’s prayer for them, and this should
be the prayer of every believer for himself.
To increase and abound in love toward fellow believers, and toward all
men, is one of our highest goals. Here
we find an application of our little chorus deep and wide. Love in the Christian is to be both
intensive and extensive. It is to grow
more and more and over flow until it is the basic factor in our relationships
to believers. It is not to end there,
for the church is not to become a mutual admiration society which gets wrapped
up in itself and forgets the reason for its existence, which is to reach a lost
world with the love of God.
II. THE MEANS OF DIVINE DIRECTION.
In verse 11 Paul is not asking for a miracle, but for God’s
guidance in a providential way. When a
miracle takes place no one can say, “What luck.” It is so definitely an act of God that no mistake can be
made. No cause but a supernatural cause
could possibly produce a miracle.
Providence, on the other hand, is very much within the possibility of
being caused by natural law. There is
nothing impossible about the story of the teacher being saved by the student
that we wrote of at the beginning.
There is nothing impossible at all about the multitude of events that so
coincide as to produce amazing benefits for God’s children. To show the distinction consider the story
of Exodus. If God had foreseen that natural causes would at a specific time
result in a dry path across the Red Sea, and therefore worked in the life of Moses
and the people to get them there at just the time that such would happen, that
would be providence and not miracle.
If, however, there were no natural causes to produce such an effect,
then it is a miracle.
There is nothing necessarily spectacular about
providence. One man was telling of the
remarkable providence that preserved him when his horse stumbled. Another man said, “I have a more remarkable
providence than that. My horse never
stumbled at all.” There is a tendency
to only think of God’s guidance and providence when there is a close call, but
it is far more abundant in preserving us from having any close calls in the
first place. Paul is not asking for
anything spectacular to happen. He just
wants God to work things out so Satan does not hinder him from getting to
them. It took 5 years before did get
back, but he was patient with the providence of God. He didn’t expect God to pick him up and carry him there. He was content to leave it in the hands of
God to work out the time schedule.
III. THE GOAL OF DIVINE DIRECTION.
What ultimate purpose was behind Paul’s desire for divine
guidance? It was that when Christ comes
again that they might be mature in Christ with hearts established in
holiness. The whole attitude of the New
Testament is that we are to be aiming toward perfection in the light of Christ
coming. This is the purpose behind all
of the exhortation to watch. We are to
be watching and keeping awake, and preparing for that day by growth in holiness. This is the end of all providence. God’s whole purpose in acting in our lives
is that we might be conformed to the image of His Son.
When Christ comes again with all His holy ones, we want to
be prepared to join that holy company.
The saints here are not angels, as some would say, for this word is never
used by itself anywhere in the New Testament to refer to angels. This is a reference to the redeemed that
will return with Christ. The
significance of this is that it makes perfectly clear that the coming for and
with the saints is all one event. This
has been the historic pre-millennial view throughout history. The significance of it for our lives is that
it ought to compel us to pray with Paul in all earnestness that we might be
used for service, and prepared for the second coming by the providential
guidance of God. Such a goal is not
within our capacity to reach apart from divine direction.
13. SANCTIFICATION AND SEX Based on I Thess. 4:1‑8
The father of Matthew Henry, the great Bible commentator, was courting
a girl who was heiress to a fortune while he was a Presbyterian minister. Her father said to her, "He may be a
perfect gentleman, a brilliant scholar, and an excellent preacher, but he is a
stranger, and we don't know where he came from." "True," she replied, "But we know where he is
going, and I should like to go with him."
She did go with him, and it is no wonder that such a marriage should
produce great fruit for the kingdom of God.
It was founded on God designed goals.
This girl wanted a man whose goals were God's goals, and he wanted a
girl that shared those goals.
I have read that one of the biggest gripes of an architect is
people who want him to design a home, but really only want him to put down on
paper what is in their own heads whether it is sensible to him or not. Such is often the case with Christians who
pray for God to direct their lives.
They really mean, approve of what we have already decided to do. This is so often true in the whole matter of
choosing a life mate. Marriages are
only made in heaven for those who seek heaven's guidance. The issue of marriage and sex has always
been a major concern for Christians.
Here in Paul's first letter we get a glimpse of what was a universal
problem. First consider‑
I. HIS EXHORTATION v. 1.
Paul had just built up in 3:13 to the ultimate goal of the
Christian life to be holy and unblameable at the coming of Christ. Now he goes on to urge them to strive for that
goal. Paul is saying that
sanctification is not automatic. You
don't just everyday in every way get better and better. It is a matter of constant conscious
obedience to the commands of Christ.
Paul beseeches them and exhorts them to go on walking so as to
please God more and more. In verse 2 he
says you have the knowledge, and you know what Christ expects, but now you must
put it into practice, for this is God's will and purpose for your life. In Eph. 1:4 Paul said, "According as He
has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy
and without blame before Him in love."
I read of a farmer who said when he was offered a book on how to improve
his farming, "I already know more now about farming then I am practicing." That is the case with us as Christians. We already know more of what God wills than
we are practicing, but we must be ever pressing on to His goal for us, which is
to be fully sanctified. Second we see‑
II. HIS EXPLANATION. v. 3.
Paul was diplomatically laying the background for dealing with
a very sensitive and serious situation.
These Thessalonians had been raised in paganism all their lives where
sexual ethics was totally perverted.
Paul was writing from Corinth where there were 1000 prostitutes in the
temple of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. It seems strange to us that Paul would have to tell Christian
people that it was God's will that they abstain from sexual immorality, but
when you consider the background of these people, it is not so strange at
all. None of them were raised in
Christian homes, but all were raised in pagan homes. Their concept of sex was totally pagan.
Timothy had apparently come back with some news that was not
good. These Christians were still
practicing the sexual ethics of their pagan society. This is happening in our day as well, for studies show that
Christian youth have sex outside of marriage almost to the same degree as non‑Christian
youth. These Thessalonians were
selecting their mates by immoral methods.
We need to remember that when we talk about the power and purity of the
early church we are referring to the Jewish Christians at Pentecost. They were already well trained in the Word
of God, and biblical sexual ethics. The
Gentile churches did not have this background.
Lesser men than Paul would not have had the wisdom and tack
to handle this as Paul did. Many would
blast such corruption with scorching condemnation, and try to shame and scare
them into purity. Paul, like his Lord,
took an altogether approach. He praises
them for their growth. He recognizes
their faith and love, and urges them on to greater commitment. He points out the great goal of the
Christian to be holy and blameless, and then moves in to show how different
this is from the heathen goals, and how they must leave those behind, and press
on to godly goals.
The psychology of Paul is obvious. If I want to see a person arrive at a higher goal, the surest
method of failure is that of discouragement and condemnation. If a child is learning to play the piano,
the quickest way to kill their enthusiasm is to point out how insignificant his
pounding is compared to the beautiful music of some great pianist. You can try and shame them into working
harder by telling them they will never get anyone to listen to them if that is
all they can do. What you need to do is
tell them that what they are doing is wonderful, and you can see they are
making progress. You encourage them to
think that they are learning, and that someday they will be able to play
beautiful music. This was Paul's method
in this letter.
Paul recognized that sanctification is a process which is
advanced by teaching, and not by threatening.
He does add a threat sometimes, but that is not his primary method. In verse 4 he says that everyone should know
how to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable. In verse 5 he adds, "Not in passionate
lust like the heathen, who do not know God.." Paul is saying that a Christian can and must control the sex
drive.
In Rom. 1 Paul points out that all sorts of sexual perversions
arose among heathen peoples because they did not know God. In other words, for the world sex is
determined by the appetite, and doing what comes naturally. In the Christian life sexual expressions are
to be determined by one's commitment to God's will for a sanctified and
honorable life. It is important to see
that Paul is saying that sanctification and sex are to be in harmony. Sex is to be a part of life which is beautiful
and precious as God meant it to be.
C. S. Lewis in his book Christian Behavior says, "Modern
people are always saying sex is nothing to be ashamed of. It they mean, he says, 'there is nothing to be
ashamed of in the fact that the human race reproduces itself in a certain way,
nor in the fact that it gives pleasure,' they are right." Christianity says the same thing. It is not the thing, nor the pleasure that
is the problem. The old Christian teachers
said that if man had never fallen, sexual pleasure, instead of being less than
it is now, would actually have been greater.
I know some muddle‑headed Christians have talked as if
Christianity thought that sex, the body, and pleasure, were bad in themselves. But they were wrong.
Christianity is almost the only one of the great religions
which thoroughly approves of the body, and which believes that matter is good,
and that God Himself once took on a physical body, and that some kind of body
is going to be given to believers in heaven.
Christianity has glorified marriage more than any other religion, and
nearly all the greatest love poetry in the world has been produced by
Christians. If anybody says that sex is
bad in itself, that person does not understand Christianity.
It is just because of the Christians high view of the body and
sex that the Christians sexual ethics is so far above that of the world. Recognizing it as a God given gift, we also
recognize that, like all the rest of life, it must be used in conformity with
His will that we be sanctified and holy.
This simply means it is an appetite that needs to be satisfied within
the framework of love and marriage.
To satisfy any appetite by
illegitimate means is a departure from the will of God. It is perfectly natural to walk by a pop
corn stand, or a hot dog counter, and have you appetite stimulated. No one will question the normalcy of your
desire to have some of that product to satisfy your wetted appetite, but if it
is not within your means to lawfully satisfy it by buying some, no one would
consider you justified in stealing it.
The sexual appetite is also perfectly normal, but there is
also legitimate and illegitimate ways to satisfy it. The Bible says that the legitimate way is in a life commitment to
another whom you love. If you don't
have the money for the popcorn, you have to wait until you do. If you don't have someone you can love for
the rest of your life, you also need to wait until you do. Some false prophets with a bit of psychology
suggest that it is repression to deny one's sex drive satisfaction, and it is
bad for one's health.
This has led to all kinds of justified immorality. Resisting a conscious desire is a normal
part of the whole battle with temptation.
It is not only not harmful, but it is helpful and strengthens the
character to resist. The repression
that is dangerous is that of being so frightened of some impulse that you do
not let it become conscious at all. Then
it enters the sub‑conscious and causes trouble. This is the danger of those who look upon sex as an evil in
itself. It ought never be a problem to
a Christian who recognizes sex as
normal.
Many years ago Dr. F. C. Wood Jr. preached a sermon on sex at
an all girls school. The sermon stirred
up a great deal of response, and it is no wonder, for though he started with a
biblical premise that sex is good, he ended with a conclusion as far from the
biblical conclusion as East is from the West.
He said, lets relax and not worry about our sex perversions. Don't take it so serious." This false thinking goes right back to the
day of Paul, and it has plagued the church through the centuries. It is called anti‑nomianism. It means anti‑law. It is a perverted concept of grace that says
if grace abounds where there is sin, then let us sin all the more that grace
may more abound. All law and rules are
thrown out the window, lest anyone think we are saved by being good. This leads to the thinking that we can do as
we please, for God's grace will take care of us.
Paul says no such thing.
He goes on to say that God will avenge all sex perversions. Paul makes it clear in verse 8 that those
who reject his instructions do not reject man, but God. In other words, Paul is saying that the
arguments of those who say ethics are all relative to the culture, and are
arbitrary and man made, are false. The
Bible makes it clear, not just here, but everywhere that purity in sex is an
absolute and universal standard in the sight of God. The one thing we always know in every situation is that it is
God's will for our sanctification.
14. REVOLUTIONARY RESOLUTIONS Based on I Thess.
4:9-12
No one doubts that man has made a great deal of progress in
the physical realm. In 1903 when the
Wright Brothers flew their heavier than air machine, the whole distance of
their first flight was less than the wing spread of a modern B 36. Progress has been obvious. The progress in medicine has been equally
amazing. Someone has said that if they
get wonder drugs any more powerful you won’t be able to take them unless in you
are in perfect health. William E.
Hocking has said, however, “Progress does not carry with it religious
progress. It means rather that men have
found new ways of being lost.” Physical
and technological progress does not bring people closer to God. It often only makes them more efficient
sinners.
Progress is the spiritual realm is the obligation of
Christians in every age. They always
have the great responsibility of providing the world with Christ-like
lies. If the church is to be the light
of the world and the salt of the earth it must maintain a constant growth in
spiritual matters. Christians ought to
resolve, not just every New Year, but every day of their lives to be a more
Christ-like witness in our world that is still in the dark ages
spiritually. Paul wrote to the
Thessalonians and suggested some vital areas for spiritual progress that are as
relevant today as they were then. In
fact, if we resolved to carry them out, they would revolutionize our Christian
witness in the world. In these 4 verses
Paul first deals with our relationship to believers, and then with our
relationship to unbelievers.
I. OUR RELATION TO BELIEVERS.
Concerning brotherly love, says Paul, there is no need to
write to you, for you are taught of God.
Love of one another is inherent in the Christian experience. One cannot become a new creature in Christ
and not recognize that love is the basic foundation for our fellowship. A non-loving Christian is a contradiction in
terms. It is true that individual
Christians can have antagonism for one another, and thereby place themselves
outside of God’s will, but even such Christians still love other Christian
people. It is impossible to be a
Christian and not love other Christian people.
John said, “He that loves not his brother abides in death.” It is possible to remain on a low level in
this area, however. That is why Paul
says that there is no need to write, but then goes on to write anyway. There is need to tell them about love, but
there was a need to urge them on to greater love.
The Greek word here for brotherly love is philadelphia. The idea of brotherhood comes from this
word. Few ideas have been more abused
than the one of brotherhood. It has
been made so superficial by a loose and broad use of it so that it has lost its
biblical ring. The Bible uses it only
to refer to relationships within the church.
It is a relationship among believers in the Bible, but in liberal
circles the concept of the brotherhood of man has been watered down so that it
is made to refer to all people. We need
to beware of throwing away biblical truths just because they are abused. Brotherhood is a perfectly good word that
came into this world because of Christ.
It is even true in some sense that we are brothers of all men, but the
biblical use of brotherhood is limited to those within the family of God. This is important lest we loose sight of the
distinction between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness.
Agape is the word used in the Bible for universal
love. We are to agape even our
enemies. God so agaped the world that He
gave His only Son. Philadelphia is a
more particular love for the brethren.
It is where we start as Christians.
We are to love the brethren, but then go on to broaden that particular
philadelphia love into universal agape love.
The New Testament makes a clear distinction between these two loves, and
it shows that growth upward is from philadelphia to agape. In II Peter 1:5-7 we read, “Add to your
faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to
temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly
kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.”
Charity, of course, is agape.
Paul says to them that they are doing fine, for they have
given evidence of their love to all the brothers in Macedonia, but he urges
them to go on and abound more so as to love universally as God loves. Don’t keep your love just within the realm
of Christian circles. Go beyond this to
even love those who are no part of the church.
What Scripture seems to teach here is that love for the brothers is a
natural part of the Christian life. It
comes with the new birth, but only in seed form. It must grow and abound more and more until we are mature enough
to see that our love must include event he non-Christian world. This is a goal we are to strive for because
it does not come automatically. It is a
goal reached only by growth. This being
the case, there can be few resolutions more revolutionary than to resolve to
rebound in love, and seek to grow in conformity to the love which Christ has
for all men.
II. OUR RELATION TO UNBELIEVERS.
Paul advises first that they major in silence. Most Christian schools have a major in
speech, but I have never heard of one with even a single course in quietness. Maybe it is because it would be too tough,
for Paul implies that this is no snap course, but a real rugged one. The word for study is a strong word. It means to earnestly strive to be
quiet. Paul uses the same word in Rom.
15:20: “Yea, so have I strived to preach the Gospel, not where Christ was
named, lest I should build upon another man’s foundation.” In one other place he uses it in an even
stronger sense. In II Cor. 5:9-10 he
says, “Wherefore we labor, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted
of Him. For we must all appear before
the judgment seat of Christ...” The
word labor is the same word as study is here, and it shows how strong the word
is, for it is the word Paul used to describe his activity to please
Christ.
This seems paradoxical to make such a struggle to be
quiet. As one translation has it, “Make
a desperate effort on behalf of tranquility of mind.” It sounds like the man who said, “We will have peace even if we
have to fight for it.” You wouldn’t
think it would be such a battle just to be quiet, and to live a peaceful life,
but it takes a great deal of effort, and each Christian should resolve anew
every year to concentrate on being quiet.
Pascal’s statement may seem a little strong when he said, “I have often
said that all of the misfortunes of men spring from not knowing how to live
quietly at home in their own rooms.”
This was certainly true to a large extent in this church. Paul’s letter to them indicates that they
were probably getting a reputation in the community as being fanatics. This is only a problem when Christians are
truly fanatical. They were all excited
about the second coming to the point that they became lazy busybodies, and they
were indifferent to society. Every time
this has happened in the history of the church it has left a dark blot of shame
and failure.
Paul lays down some principles in this passage that would
have prevented all of these if men would but guide their lives according to
God’s Word. Paul makes it clear that
any view of the second coming which makes one less fit for a long life of
usefulness on earth is a false view. It
is a sin to be so heavenly minded you are no earthly good. Paul urges them to mind their own
business. Nose trouble has always been
a vice among Christians. Just because
we have received Christ does not mean we have been given a divine search
warrant that permits us to meddle in people’s lives. Christians are to respect the rights and privacy of other
people.
John Wesley said that the best evidence of a man’s growth
in grace is when he can say, “Every year I become more merciless in my
judgments of myself, and more merciful in my judgments of others.” In other words, the Christian who resolves
to concentrate on his own conformity to Christ, and not try and change other
people, will be the Christian whose life most does change other people. Someone has said, “A man who cannot mind his
own business is not to be trusted with that of the king.” If someone tells us to mind our own
business, let us not be offended, for it is not only biblical advice, it is
essential to our spiritual progress.
Paul then tells them to work with their own hands. The Christian who does a good days work in
whatever he is doing is fulfilling the will of God in a far more realistic way
than we recognize. Even if Christ is
coming again this week, the Christian who is in the will of God will be doing a
good job at his work. If he makes
shoes, he will make them good enough to last for months, even though his
conviction is that Christ may come in a week.
A sloppy job is never a credit to a Christian, and it hinders his
witness to the world. Apparently some
of these Christians had quit working completely. There thinking was that if Christ is coming soon, what sense does
it make to plow the fields and sow grain?
There are two things wrong with this thinking. First, we do not know when Jesus is coming, and second, even if
we knew it would be soon, we have an obligation to witness to the world. Who would be drawn to a faith that makes men
less effective for life, and less responsible as citizens?
William Barclay said, “When we Christians prove that our
Christianity makes us better workmen, truer friends, kinder men and women, then
and only then are we really preaching.”
To either run around or lay around like fanatics or busybodies, as if
the world is coming to an end, is neither good sense nor good Christianity. Paul says to calm down and establish
yourselves in a pattern of life which challenges the world by showing the power
and the love of Christ. The Christian
is to be the best citizen, the superior worker, and the most conscientious
servant. Why? It is because you have an obligation to the non-Christian
world. I have heard people say that
they don’t care what people think. This
is a bad attitude, for God does care, and he expects us to care as well.
The church is to be conscious of its image before the
unbelieving community. We are not a water-tight
colony indifferent to public opinion. We have an obligation to life a life
worthy of a people who claim to be children of God. We are epistles read of all
men. We are living products of the grace of God. God forbid that this makes us
less useful for practical living. Paul wanted these believers to recognize that
one of the most revolutionary resolutions that can be made in life is the
resolution to walk worthy of those called of God. We are to strive to live all
of life on a level that benefits men and brings glory to God. May God help is
to be committed to philadelphia the brothers and agape the world. This will
always be our most revolutionary resolution.
15. NO REST FOR THE RIGHTEOUS Based on I Thess. 5:6-11
While I was visiting in the hospital one of the workers came in and a patient said, “Are you still working?” “Yes,” she said, “No rest for the wicked, and I guess I am awfully wicked.” We have all heard this a