1 Thessalonians 2:13-20

hey hey good morning good morning good morning welcome to coffee and devotions it's for every day you and I we get together we have a little bit of coffee we get into God's word and we grow in our love for the Lord together and this year 2022 Lord willing will make it from the book of Acts through second Thessalonians so glad to be with you this morning why don't we go ahead and have some coffee we'll pray and we'll get into God's word let's pray father we thank you so much that you are the Lord of Glory and that you teach us father we pray that as we read your word that you would work in our hearts that we would know you love you follow in your ways pull it to your promises by the power of your spirit in Jesus name amen well we are at second first Thessalonians sorry first second Thessalonians I have a hard time saying that word for some reason verse 13 through verse 20. so first Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 13 through verse 20. let's go ahead and get into God's word for this reason we also thank god without ceasing because when you receive the word of God which you heard from us you welcomed it as not as the word of men but as it is in truth the word of God which also effectively Works in you who believe for you Brethren became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus for you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen just as they did from the judeans who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets and have persecuted us and they do not please God and are contrary to all men forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved so as always to fill up the measure of their sins but wrath has come upon them to the uttermost but we Brethren having been taken away from you for a short time in presence of heart and presence not in heart Endeavor more eagerly to see you to see your face with great desire and therefore we wanted to come to you even I Paul time and again but Satan hindered us for what is Our Hope or Joy or crown of rejoicing is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming for you are our glory and joy well what an amazing passage we have we need to ask ourselves hey what's this about be what's the best verse to summarize this and see what are we called to do in response to these words so first a what is this about on the first part here is Paul continuing to speak about the encouragement that they are in their faith and secondly he wants to talk about his desire to see them and how that desire affects his heart so uh first what does this say in this first part for this reason we thank god without ceasing right we're back to thanking God it's similar to chapter 1 verses 2 and following and and so he's continuing to give things for them and he wants to see this is an amazing letter where he wants to encourage them he he's he's in Corinth and he's he's just so pleased at what's going on in their lives going on in their hearts that he wants to continue to talk about the way in which they received God's word and he says he he thanks God without ceasing because when you receive the word of God which you heard from us you welcomed it not as the words of men but as is it is in truth the word of God which also effectively Works in you who believe see when they heard the words that Paul preached they received them but they didn't just receive them as Paul a sage traveling through their land would give to them with you know good knowledge or wisdom or something there may be Omens from some you know foreign deity no they receive it as the word of God the one true Living God and they received the message that Paul spoke to them because they believed it was the truth they believed that it was from him and it affected their lives the word didn't come empty but it came powerfully and it changed the way they lived and Paul is saying man there's something to give thanks to God for that when somebody receives the word of God I gotta tell you as a pastor this is one of the most fun things for me when I see someone hear God's word read God's word and it's like it sinks down into their soul they understand it and the light bulb goes off and it's like boom their lives are changed it's one of the most exciting things for me see God's children hear the word and have their lives affected by it and so he says for you Brethren became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus right this wasn't just a church in Macedonia on its own but they were following the pattern of what they heard about the churches in Judea about these churches who even though they were persecuted continued on in their faith even though they might have been afflicted they trusted that these were the words of God and so he says to them for you have suffered the same things from your own countrymen just as they did from the judeans and back at home where Paul is from well where he was raised he was originally from Tarsus but then he was raised in Judea people hated the church Paul was one of them he tried to destroy it and yet the church still grew yet people still clung to Jesus Christ even though they were being persecuted by their own countrymen he says in a similar way you're doing that there in thessalonica in Macedonia people hate you because you love Jesus and that's a beautiful thing right that shows that you are not above your master but if they hated him it seems that they're going to hate you also who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets and have persecuted us and they do not please God in our contrary to all men right he said the Jewish people there they hate so much that they they killed the Lord Jesus himself along with the prophets right they they killed them both the prophets of old but also the prophets of new I wonder if Paul this is just me speculating here though I wonder if Paul remembered standing there holding people's coats giving a scent as I stoned Stephen as you heard the gospel preached from Steven's lips did he remember the faces of the Jewish people as they tried to kill the New Testament prophet but he had seen that himself forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved so as always to fill up the measure of their sins but wrath has come upon them to the utter most right they didn't want them to speak about Jesus Christ they forbid them to speak about Jesus Christ they imprisoned them for speaking about Jesus Christ to their own shame to the wrath of God that was going to come now some people will say this shows that Paul was writing this after 70 80. I'm not so convinced of that but I think that there could be the Roman persecutions that started against Jewish people and the the clampdown possibly 49 uh 80 or somewhere like that maybe might be a little bit too early for this letter or could be talking about that in the mind of God eschatologically this is something that's going to happen that at the Judgment Day When Jesus Christ comes the judge the living and the dead like you just talked about in the previous chapter that the measure of their sin was going to be full there wasn't any more left but but God was going to use that enough to hold them accountable on the Judgment Day but he says in verse 17 through 20 he he wants to see them he wants them to know that he didn't abandon them he wasn't like a mother who left her child uh to suffer alone he wasn't like a dad who just left the family and abandoned but no he wanted to be with them brethren we have been taken away from you for a short time in presence not in heart Paul might have had to go he might have had to have left he needed to go to Bria he needed to go down to Athens he needed to go to Corinth God had more Mission work for him to do but that did not mean that he ever stopped loving them thinking about them praying for them and so he might have been absent in body but not in heart and his absence wasn't willful but he says he endeavored more eagerly to see your face with great desire therefore we wanted to come to even I Paul time and again but Satan hindered us every single time he tried to go he tried to see them he wanted to go he wanted to see them it seemed as if their adversary himself did not want him to go and we don't know exactly what this means that you know Satan hindered him to go I I'm not a fan of going and speculating about demonology and satanology and stuff like this um I'm not I'm not a huge fan of stuff like that it leads you down some wacky corridors but no matter what Paul has in mind here he's trying to show it wasn't his will his desire was to be with them but for some other reason Satan hindered these things from happening and he says uh for what is Our Hope or our joy or our crown of rejoicing right what's what's his hope of having rewards in heaven his hope is that he's done well as a good and faithful servant that he was entrusted with the gospel he preached it to them and they believed what would be his Joy to present them to the lamb spotless and pure blameless in his sight his Joy was to go to Jesus and say look at these ones that you have redeemed what was his rejoicing or his crown what was this crown of rejoicing God look at the people that you have saved you entrusted me with the gospel you knew my heart you sent me to them and father look at your people look at the ones that you have given look at the the Lambs that you have cared for look at those who I have nursed and who I have admonished and exhorted and encouraged and father they are beautiful in your sight this is this crown of rejoicing this is why he says in verse 20 or sorry in verse 19 and 20 is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus at his coming for you are our glory and joy every good pastor ought to take this to Heart the glory and joy is not the size of the congregation not the expansiveness of the church budget but it's in the hearts of the people that we can present the Lord Jesus Christ on the day of his return and say Lord behold your people and people behold your savior this is their Joy this is their Glory well what would we underline what's the best verse is to underline In this passage well I have verse 13 underlined in my Bible for this reason we also give thanks we also thank god without ceasing because when you were received I said when you receive the word of God which you heard from us you welcomed it not as the word of men but as it truly is the word of God which also effectively Works in you who believe and then I also have underlined in my Bible verses 19 and 20. that's what I would underline in my Bible but I'm a pastor and so I take those words to Heart what would you underline in your Bible or last C calling how do you receive the word of God right when when you pick up the Bible when you read God's word how do you receive it what does it mean to you what is it is it just a book of myths is it just a storybook or is it the word of God himself does it work effectively in your life does it change the way you think does it give you hope and encouragement when trials and tribulations and troubles come how do you receive the word and what effect does it have in your life secondly how do you feel about the people of God do you see them as people to rejoice in as people to love how do you feel about the person in the Pew or chair next to you do you see them and rejoice that they are Blood Bought redeemed person of God might change the way that the church interacts with each other and cared for one another well uh before we pray I'm just going to make an announcement that we're going to actually take a break okay we're going to take a two-week break uh our family is going away uh we're going on vacation for a little while and so I want you to know that uh we're gonna be on a way for the next two weeks and I hope that you will continue to stay in the word I pray that you'll continue to go to the Bible on your own and continue reading but I'll be back in a couple weeks and we'll pick this back up and I will be excited to see you then let's go ahead and pray father we thank you so much for the grace that you have shown Us in Jesus Christ thank you Father for you are the Holy One of God and you have shown us your word we pray that we would receive it by faith father I want to thank you for the blessing it is to Shepherd your people thank you for giving me such a joy and a glory Lord I pray for those listening today that as they receive your word that would be a blessing to them and that it would change their lives change the tenor of their hearts that they would walk in your ways and love you always in Jesus name amen well may the Lord bless you may you walk in the joy and peace of Jesus Christ and I'll see you in two weeks bye [Music] thanks for listening to this week's message from God's word for you a Ministry of Sharon RP Church in rural Southeast Iowa we pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith in your life this week if you'd like to get more information about us feel free to go to the website Sharon rpc.org we'd love to invite you to worship with us our worship time is 10 a.m every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue Morning Sun Iowa 52640 may God richly bless you this week [Music] thank you