Thank God for other's Faith

Hey, hey, good morning, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. It's where 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, we'll make it from the book of Acts through 2 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, hold to your promises by the power of your spirit. In Jesus's name, amen. Well, we are at 1 Thessalonians. I have a hard time saying that word for some reason. Verse 13 through verse 20. So 1 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 received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it 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, in presence not in heart, endeavor more eagerly to see you, to see your face with great desire. 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, A, what's this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize this? And C, what are we called to do in response to these words? So first, A, what is this about? Well, 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 first, what does this say in this first part? For this reason, we thank God without ceasing. We're back to thanking God. It's similar to chapter one, verses two and following. And so he's continuing to give thanks for them. And he wants to, this is an amazing letter, he wants to encourage them. He's in Corinth and 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 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 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, or maybe 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 to 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 was from, 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, and are contrary to all men. He says the Jewish people there, they hate so much that they killed the Lord Jesus himself, along with the prophets. 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 they stoned Stephen as He heard the gospel preached from Stephen's lips Did he remember the faces of the Jewish people as they tried to kill the New Testament prophets 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 uttermost." 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 AD. I'm not so convinced of that. But I think that there could be the Roman persecutions that started against Jewish people and the clampdown possibly 49 AD 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 to judge the living and the dead, like he had 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 God was going to use that enough to hold them accountable on the Judgment Day. But he says in verse 17 through 20, 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 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. 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 you, 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. Now we don't know exactly what this means, that Satan hindered him to go. I'm not a fan of going and speculating about demonology and Satanology and stuff like this. 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, for what is our hope, or our joy, or our crown of rejoicing? 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 his 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 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 his crown of rejoicing. This is why he says in verse 20, 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.
But what would we underline? What's the best verses 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 received 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? Well, last see calling. How do you receive the word of God? Right, 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're a blood bought, redeemed person of God? might change the way that the church interacts with each other and cares for one another.
Well, before we pray, I'm just gonna make an announcement that we're gonna actually take a break. We're gonna take a two week break. Our family is going away. We're going on vacation for a little while. And so I want you to know that 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 it 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.
Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith and your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.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.