2 Thessalonians (1)

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Comfort for the Persecuted (1)

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2 Thessalonians (3)

2 Thessalonians (3)

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Well, let's turn to 2 Thessalonians 1. Again, I apologize for hacking and coughing up here, but I tell you what,
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I'm feeling so much better today than I have been all week. So thank the Lord for his recoveries.
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So today we begin to examine Paul's second epistle to the church at Thessalonica. As with the first Thessalonians, which we completed just a few weeks ago,
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I've never taught through this epistle verse by verse, and I don't know how long we'll be in this book.
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Now, the first Thessalonians, it took us 23 Sundays, but that has five chapters.
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This epistle has three chapters, and they're short, too, as well. And so I don't anticipate we're going to be here long.
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Introductory matters are commonly addressed at the beginning of the study of the Bible. And when we began to study 1
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Thessalonians some weeks ago, we pointed out that in the arena of formal biblical studies or scholarship, the word introduction has a technical meaning
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An introduction addresses matters of authorship, the date when, say, a book or an epistle was written, the place where the epistle or book was written, the identification of the original readers, including the place to which it was sent, the canonicity of the book, in other words, when and how did the, say, 2
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Thessalonians come to be recognized as Scripture, the Word of God, part of the canon, the occasion for the writing of it, what was the reason
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Paul sat down and wrote this epistle. And usually in the introductory material, the major themes of the book are identified.
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And this information is important to understand because it really influences and affects how we interpret the book and how we read the book.
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But regarding the introduction to 2 Thessalonians, we can simply repeat, of course, much of what we said regarding 1
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Thessalonians. The Apostle Paul is the attributed author of the epistle, and it is universally recognized, although liberal scholars try and deny it as not being
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Pauline, but there is really no warrant for that. In addition to Paul identifying himself, he also includes
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Silvanus and Timothy. If you look at verse 1, it indicates that, just as we saw back in 1
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Thessalonians 1. And so there are three of them listed, but the
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Apostle Paul, of course, was the chief author. Paul probably mentioned these two men, for they had been with him when he initially evangelized
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Thessalonica, and these two men, Silvanus and Timothy, were in on the founding of the church at Thessalonica.
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We described Thessalonica in our study of our 1 Thessalonians.
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Thessalonica was the capital city of the province of Macedonia. That city exists today, by the way, right there on the northern end of the peninsula, the
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Grecian peninsula, the Balkan peninsula. The city was built on an important Roman trade route that existed in Paul's day.
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He probably traveled that route, and it was known as the Via Ignatia trade route, going west to east, east to west.
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Rome had granted this province of Macedonia to govern itself, and so it had its own government, although it was under Rome, of course, and the political leaders of this region were called polytarchs.
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The church itself at Thessalonica contained both Jewish converts as well as Gentile converts.
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Paul had begun this church on his second missionary journey. He had picked up Timothy in Asia Minor, and so Timothy hadn't been with him long.
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They traveled up to Troas, up there on the Aegean coast, where Paul had a dream at night, a vision at night, of a young man saying, come over and help us.
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They traveled across the Aegean Sea to the area of Philippi, and so the first missionary work, technically in the continent of Europe, began in Thessalonica.
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It was a little bit inland from Philippi, a little bit north, I believe, and west. We read of the founding of the church in Acts 17.
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Perhaps we should read it again, Acts 17, 1 -9. Now, when they had passed through Amphipolis in Apollonia, now this is
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Luke writing. He wasn't with them at the time. He's describing when they traveled through those regions.
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They came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul, as his custom was, went into them, and for three
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Sabbaths reasoned with them from the scriptures, explaining and demonstrating that the
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Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, saying, This Jesus, whom I preach to you, is the Christ.
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And some of them were persuaded, and a great multitude of devout Greeks, and not a few of the leading women, joined
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Paul in silence. But the Jews who were not persuaded, becoming envious, took some of the evil men from the marketplace and, gathering a mob, set all the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason, sought to bring them out to the people.
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But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out,
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These who have turned the world upside down have come here, too. Jason has armored them, and these are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying,
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There is another king, Jesus. And they troubled the crowd and the rulers of the city when they heard these things, so when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.
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And then Paul and Timothy and Silas of Venus traveled south to Athens and then on down to Corinth, and it was at that time that Paul sent
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Timothy back up to check on this new church, seeing how they were doing.
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Timothy came back and so Paul wrote 1 Thessalonians. He sent
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Timothy back up with 1 Thessalonians and got a further report when he came back, and so after a few months he wrote the second epistle.
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We read that the ones who received Paul's gospel were some of the Jews and a great multitude of devout
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Greeks and not a few of the leading women. These Greeks were probably God -fearers like Cornelius, who was in Caesarea, and others,
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Gentiles, who had turned away from the pagan morality of the Romans, embraced the
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God and ethical standards promoted by the Jews. They hadn't become Jewish proselytes, but they attended the synagogue, they worshipped the
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God of Israel, and so here we see that many of these, and Jews, came to Christ for the gospel, and they joined in this new church.
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Paul had written probably 1 Thessalonians in the year A .D. 50 or 51.
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Paul wrote 2 Thessalonians not long afterward, perhaps after only two or three months, three months maybe.
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And Paul's letters, therefore, 1 Thessalonians are among the earliest of Paul's writings. Galatians was probably earlier, but 1 and 2
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Thessalonians were early letters written by Paul. Why did
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Paul write 2 Thessalonians? Well, these Christians at Thessalonica had experienced persecution for the faith.
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Remember that's how Paul and Timothy and Silas, they had to flee there because of that.
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But these young Christians were in need of instruction and encouragement as they faced these afflictions.
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This was a common problem that Paul had to deal with. New converts he had to leave, he had to write back or go back to tell them, this is the way it is.
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If you're a Christian in this world, you're going to suffer. But in addition,
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Paul had addressed a number of issues in his first epistle, including instruction regarding the Second Coming of Christ and the need for Christians to be prepared for that event.
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But the contents of 2 Thessalonians suggest that the Church either failed to understand
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Paul's instruction in 1 Thessalonians rightly, or that some in the Church had drawn false conclusions from that first epistle and established wrong behavior with view to the
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Second Coming. It's clear that Paul wrote the second epistle in order to correct errant belief and practice in the
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Church, which perhaps grew out of a wrong application of what he had written to them in 1
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Thessalonians. It would seem that some in the Church had concluded from Paul's first letter that the
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Second Coming of Jesus Christ was imminent. By the way, this is a common understanding among evangelicals.
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Some perhaps thought he was returning so soon that really the time left for this world is no longer.
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What's the point? He's going to be back very soon. And so there were those that even ceased to work any longer.
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What's the point? Jesus is coming. And they, no longer working, actually became a burden to the
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Church to feed them and to clothe them, expecting the
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Church to support them. And then there were those who thought wrongly that Christ had already returned.
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They thought the Second Coming was a spiritual return and that it had happened, and some of them thought they had missed out on that.
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And so Paul wrote this second epistle to correct their belief and behavior. The epistle contains information about the
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Second Coming that is not found in other places in the scriptures. It speaks of trouble and tribulation.
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It speaks a great deal about the man of sin, which I find fascinating in the second chapter.
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It addresses in some detail the life and end of the man of sin, the
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Antichrist. He's never called the Antichrist. He's called the man of sin, but we, you know, everybody assumes, and I think rightly so, he is the
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Antichrist. But because of these themes, 2
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Thessalonians, particularly chapter 2, is the source of much prophetic speculation and end -time conjecture, and I might even add the word nonsense.
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And so we're going to explore some of that when we get into chapter 2 as well. And so we'll consider some of the common assertions about the end times that are really unwarranted, but they claim is taught in 2
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Thessalonians 2. And just by way of example, it's a given among most evangelicals that there will be a physical, literal temple rebuilt in Jerusalem before the
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Second Coming of Christ, and they argue that wrongly based on 2 Thessalonians 2.
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And we'll see that where it talks about the temple of God and the man of sin standing within it.
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And so I think we're going to find this study interesting and instructive and perhaps corrective of some notions that we hear all the time, and some perhaps that we have held.
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I want to read the first chapter, it's not long, and we're reading from the
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New English Standard Version. Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the church of the
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Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace from God our
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Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We ought always to give thanks to God for you brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.
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And therefore we ourselves boast about you and the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.
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This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God for which you are also suffering, since indeed
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God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us.
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When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know
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God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus, they will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction away from the presence of the
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Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.
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To this end we always pray for you that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our
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Lord Jesus may be glorified in you and you in him, according to the grace of our
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God and the Lord Jesus Christ. We have an outline that we've provided for you.
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I've taken this and just changed a couple of words, added a couple of words, and this is taken from the
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Reformation Heritage King James Version Study Bible, edited by Joel Beakey, excellent devotional study
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Bible. I'm working through it this year, reading through the study notes, and in the footnotes after every chapter in this
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Bible there are a few words of instruction for family devotions and personal devotions.
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It's very good, and I would recommend it to you. And so this outline is drawn from there, and we have five divisions, an initial salutation, grace and peace, and then what we are looking at today, chapter one, courage for suffering saints, and this is in three subdivisions, thanksgiving for faith, love and endurance in tribulation, judgment on persecutors, and glory for saints, prayer for power and glory.
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And then chapter two addresses correction of mistaken end times expectations, Paul writes correcting them, first the false report of the day of Christ, second the rise and destruction of the man of sin, and then the fourth division, confidence in salvation called a prayer.
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We have thanksgiving, exhortation to elect sinners, prayer for comfort and strength, request for prayer for the mission, assurance and prayer for endurance, command to discipline disorderly brothers, and then a conclusion, peace and grace.
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Let's just briefly look at the salutation, grace and peace, verses one and two, Paul opened the epistle in a customary manner,
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Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians, and God our Father and the
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Lord Jesus Christ, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus. It's virtually the same salutation as we saw in 1
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Thessalonians chapter one, and I put that down here for you in your notes, slightly different,
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Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians, and God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, and then simply the words grace to you and peace, leaving off the words from God our
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Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, and I was looking at the Greek text, by the way, and there's all kinds of footnotes in Greek text down through the centuries where there were efforts of scribes to conflate the two and make the two read a lot alike, and most of those are in later manuscripts, but Paul clearly,
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I believe, wrote with this distinction, leaving off that last phrase, from God our
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Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Now we addressed this matter in some detail when we looked at 1
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Thessalonians 1, there's really no need for us this morning to repeat our comments.
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They are in our notes and available to you for your review.
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And so let's move right on to verses 3 -12, and here we have Paul providing courage or encouragement for suffering saints, and verses 3 and 4, and we're going to zero in here a little bit, we have
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Paul expressing thanksgiving for faith, love, and endurance in tribulation that they were encountering.
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And so Paul addressed the suffering that the Christians in the church had been enduring.
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He told them that he thanked God, because in spite of their suffering, and perhaps even due to their suffering, they were living as faithful Christians among a hostile people in a fallen world.
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He thanked God. Their faith was growing, their faith was increasing, even in their tribulation.
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And so he was pleased with them, in fact he was even proud of them. He set them up as an example to other churches.
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He was, he delighted in this church. And so we read verses 3 and 4, we ought always to give thanks to God for you brothers as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.
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And therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.
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Now it was common convention in epistle writing of this nature to give a word of thanksgiving at this point, immediately after the initial greeting.
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And so this fits with conventional writing of epistles in the first century. Paul did so in the first letter, 1
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Thessalonians 1 verses 2 and 3, we read, we give thanks to God always for all of you, same pattern, thanksgiving expressed, constantly mention you in our prayers, remembering before our
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God and Father your work of faith, labor of love, steadfastness of hope. But notice here in 2
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Thessalonians 1 verse 3, he wrote, we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right.
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In 1 Thessalonians he wrote that he thanked God for them. In 2 Thessalonians 1 he wrote that we should thank
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God for them. There's a different emphasis there. It's possible that Paul had heard from Timothy's report that after these
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Christians had read 1 Thessalonians 1, they perhaps were not worthy of Paul's commendation.
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He said, you know, I congratulate you because of your faith and your love and your hope.
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And perhaps they thought, well, he's speaking too highly about us. They weren't worthy of that commendation.
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And so now Paul, in writing this second epistle, sits down and tells them, no, no, no, it's right for me to think of this.
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In fact, I ought to be thanking God for you. And so Paul was telling them it was right to have such high regard for these
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Christians. As one wrote, Paul has already written a very warm letter containing some passages of high praise for the
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Thessalonian church. It's probable that in the subsequent communication that they had with him, whether by letter or by word of mouth, they had said that they were not worthy of such praise.
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Paul strongly maintains that his words had not been too strong. This is an obligation resting on him.
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He says, the implication is that it would be wrong not to give thanks to God in such a situation.
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There is a certain emphasis on we are bound, and this is reinforced by the adverb always.
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We're bound to thank God for you always. He's saying it's a good thing and right thing.
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Well, we may conclude from Paul's words, of course, that we ought to also give thanks to God when we witness in others their growth in faith and their increase in love for the brethren.
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Amen. That ought to immediately cause you to respond with gratefulness and thanksgiving to God when you see that exhibited in Christian brothers and sisters.
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We should give thanksgiving to God, especially for the growth of faith and increased love for the brethren.
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Thank God, because it's a work of God, isn't it? This doesn't come naturally, it doesn't come humanly, it comes supernaturally by the grace of God.
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Thomas Manton, I bought his entire works a couple of years ago, 22 volumes,
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I think, and they're just wonderful. He devoted an entire sermon or chapter to 2
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Thessalonians 1, verse 3, verse 3 alone. And in the typical manner of Puritan preaching, after initially explaining the text and what it means, he set forth normative doctrine taught in the text.
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In other words, teaching that's true for everybody, everywhere, at all times.
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And so they would list doctrine, here's the doctrine. And then he gave reasons why this doctrine was relevant and important.
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And so, in his precise manner, actually, Manton set forth 4 doctrines from verse 3.
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In reading verse 3, can you find 4 doctrines? He did. And he wrote an entire chapter.
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And these doctrines are set forth, I pulled them out of this chapter. Doctrine 1 is, and doctrine just simply means teaching, this is the teaching of the
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Word of God, this is what God teaches you and me, that it is a debt we owe to God to give thanks for His benefits.
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Amen. Simple. Who can argue with that? Second doctrine, that in thanksgiving to God, we should especially own
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His spiritual benefits. Not just thank God for the physical things
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He does for us, you know, gives us recovery from sickness and what not, but particularly, especially
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His spiritual benefits, you know, for the faith that's growing, for the love, for the brethren that's growing.
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Doctrine 3, that not only the spiritual benefits vouchsafe to ourselves, but to others also.
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There's the additional dimension. Not just giving thanks to God for what He does for you individually, but for what
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He does in others, and gives to others. That's the third doctrine he points out.
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And then fourthly, that in thanksgiving for spiritual benefits, whether to ourselves or others, the increase of grace must be acknowledged as well as the beginnings of it.
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And so we must acknowledge that it's of God. It's Him that is at work.
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Well after Manton stated the doctrine, he argued reasons for the doctrine. In fact, he argued reasons for each of the four doctrines.
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And for his first doctrine, that it's a debt we owe to God to give thanks for His benefits, he gave six reasons.
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And I wanted to share these with you, because again, they are reasonable, rational, biblical, and applicable.
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And so, for the first doctrine, that it's a debt we owe to God to give thanks for His benefits, they include the following.
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First, justice requires it. For the benefits were given upon this condition, that we should praise
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God for them. In other words, when God gives you a benefit, a blessing, whether it be physical or spiritual, it is given with a condition to it.
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That is, you glorify God upon its reception. And he quotes
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Psalm 1, I don't think it's 1, verse 15, maybe that's incorrect.
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One of you can find the verse, perhaps. Call upon me in the day of trouble, I will deliver thee, and then notice, and thou shalt glorify me.
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See how that follows? You glorify God after He hears you, and grants your petition.
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As Manton wrote, this is God's pact and agreement with us, that we shall have the benefit, and He will have the glory.
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As the king of Sodom said to Abraham, give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself again. Remember when
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Abraham came back after conquering the kings that had taken Lot and others from Sodom captive?
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Abraham went out with his 300 servants, 300 plus, brought them all back. King of Sodom says, you keep all that stuff for yourself and for your men, and give me the persons, take the goods to thyself again.
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And Manton says, so in effect, God says to us, you shall have the comfort, but let me have the honor. We ourselves consent to this covenant.
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We seldom make prayers in our distress, but we promise thankfulness. That's true, isn't it?
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God, if you hear me in this, I'll be so grateful. I'll thank you,
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I'll praise you. Hosea 14 .2, take away all iniquity, receive us graciously, for we will offer the sacrifices.
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That will be our response if you hear us. We engage or promise to offer praise when our requests are heard.
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Now when God hears and grants our requests, there is an obligation upon us to glorify God for the mercies received.
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Justice requires it. It's only right. Secondarily, that it is a debt we owe to God to give thanks for his benefits, man and reasons.
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God by his precept, in other words, law, commanding it, and we in our distress promising it, he expecteth that there should be thankful returns for the mercy afforded us.
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He expects it. Not only is it just to do so, to render to God gratefulness, but he expects it from us.
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And this truth is commonly illustrated in scripture. When people fail to render unto God thanksgiving for the
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Lord having given benefits to them, his disfavor is evident. King Hezekiah, you recall, fell sick, was told he was going to die.
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And he besought the Lord, he prayed that the Lord would heal him, and the Lord did and gave him an additional fifteen years of life.
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After God had graciously extended Hezekiah's life, we read how he responded to God. In those days
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Hezekiah was sick and near death, he prayed to the Lord, and he, God, spoke to him and gave him a sign.
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But Hezekiah did not repay according to the favor shown him, for his heart was lifted up, and therefore wrath was looming over him and over Judah and Jerusalem.
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See, God expects a grateful praise in response to the benefits that he shows us.
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This ought to characterize our lives, gratefulness, thanksgiving expressed to God.
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And our Lord Jesus expected thanksgiving in return to his grace that he bestowed to others.
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Remember the account of him healing ten lepers? It happened as he went to Jerusalem, he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee, and as he entered a certain village, there met him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off.
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And they lifted up their voices and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.
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So when he saw them, he said to them, Go, show yourselves to the priests. And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.
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And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified
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God. See, he was the only one who did what he should have done. Justice demanded that the other nine do so.
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God was expecting it for him to do so. And this one came back and fell down on his face at his feet, giving thanks, and he was a
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Samaritan of all things. And so Jesus answered and said, We're not ten cleansed, but we're the nine.
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Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner? You see, he expected it, didn't he?
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And when God blesses you, particularly with spiritual blessings, he expects in return your grateful praise of him.
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So when the Lord grants mercy or bestows grace on us, he expects our thanksgiving in return. He expects us to give glory to God.
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Well, Manton went on to say that thanksgiving is a debt we owe to God for his benefits, because thirdly, it keepeth up the intercourse between us and God, which would be interrupted and broken off if we should discontinue our addresses to him as soon as we have what we would have, and when our wants are supplied,
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God should hear no more from us. In other words, if we fail to render glory to God, express our thanksgiving to God, then our communication with God would be interrupted.
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It would only be intermittent, wouldn't it? We'd only talk to God when and as long as we needed something.
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And only then. And so, Manton was saying, if we fail to give thanks when we receive the
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Lord's benefits, our communication with the Lord would only be intermittent, rather than continuous as it should be.
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We would only pray to God when we needed something, but our praying would end upon receiving the answer to our prayers.
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We'd take it for granted. But if we're rendering thanksgiving to God for the benefits he bestows upon us, then our communication with God will tend to alternate between appeals and petitions and thanksgiving when they come to us.
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And so there'd be continuous communication between us and the Lord. Fourthly, we owe thanksgiving to God for his benefits because it continues with the succession of mercies.
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For the more thankful we are for them, the more they are increased upon us as a husbandman trusts more of his precious seed in fruitful soils.
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And so he's basically saying that the Lord will delight to show you more mercy if you're grateful for the mercy that he's already bestowed upon you.
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I didn't cite the illustration that he gave, but he illustrated it by the need that we may have from time to time to prime a pump.
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That's a foreign concept to us today. But when the pump is dry and it's not pumping water, you pour some water in.
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He said it's not because the well needs your water, but you put in water to get some out. And he's saying that this is a proper and a noble motivation that we show gratefulness to God for his mercies.
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And the Lord will delight to bestow more mercies upon us upon our grateful praise to him.
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Amen. And then further still, fifthly, in offering thanksgiving, all spiritual graces are acted and promoted.
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In other words, what Manton wanted to express is this, is that when we show forth grateful praise to our
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God for the mercies he shows us, we first of all do express our faith in that we're aware that God has been gracious to us, there are benefits from his hand.
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Secondly, we certainly show forth our love to God through our thanksgiving.
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I love the Lord because he has heard my voice and supplications. And then we show forth our humility in our thanksgiving to God, in our acknowledgment of our need of him and our dependence upon him.
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And so in our offering of thanksgiving, we see that spiritual graces are produced by us and manifested by us and demonstrated by us before the
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Lord. And then lastly, in offering thanksgiving, it prevents us from committing other sins.
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If you fail to express gratefulness to God, thanksgiving to God for his kindness and mercies, you have, for example, an unthankful heart, which soon becomes a hardened heart.
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An ungrateful heart will be a hardened heart before long. When the unthankful person receives benefits from God, he may easily take them for granted.
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And then they become curses instead of blessings. Psalm 69 .22,
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let their table become a snare for them. That table represents the bounty that God has provided.
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And it becomes a snare before them, their well -being a trap. And that's what happens if you fail or refuse to be grateful to God, give glory to God for his kindness that he shows.
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And so these are the six reasons that Mattin gives for the first of four doctrines or normative teachings that he set forth based on verse 3 alone of chapter 1.
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These guys were thorough in their treatment of matters. And he does the same with each of the other three doctrines that he takes from verse 3 as well.
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Well, let's return to our text. Again Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians 1, 3, and 4,
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We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, this is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.
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And therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God, for your steadfastness and faith in all persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.
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Interestingly in 1 Thessalonians, Paul expressed his desire that they would increase in these very ways.
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See what's happening here. We read in 1 Thessalonians 3, 12, May the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you.
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Chapter 4, verse 1 of the first epistle, Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the
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Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us, how you ought to walk and to please
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God. And then chapter 4, 9 and 10, But concerning brotherly love, you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another, and indeed you do so toward all the brethren who are in Macedonia.
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But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more. And so in the first epistle he expressed his desire that these things would be evident in their lives.
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And now, here in the second epistle, he could write, We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and your love for every one of you, for one another, is increasing.
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And so just in a few months passing time, between the time he wrote 1
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Thessalonians and the time he wrote 2 Thessalonians, he was seeing realized in these
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Christians answers to his prayer. He wanted these things to be seen in their lives, 1
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Thessalonians, and in 2 Thessalonians he's thanking God that they were seen in their lives.
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God had been at work in their lives, and he knew it. And so he thanked God. It's no surprise
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Paul felt obligated to thank God for his work of grace in these Christians. Again, as we stand back and watch what's happening as the
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Lord's working, we should be very, very grateful to our God and express thanksgiving. He's doing a work of grace in numbers of people's lives, and it's wonderful to see, wonderful to see the growth, you know, in faith, and the increase of love between the brethren.
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This is all due to the grace of God at work, isn't it? And when we see that, we ought to, we have an obligation, a duty to glorify
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God for this work in our midst, not to take it for granted. Now, we read in verse 4 that what impressed
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Paul about the grace that God had given to them was that God was blessing them in the midst of the persecution they were enduring.
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And we're coming into an important, important principle here. And I suspect if Pastor Dewar was here, he'd start saying amen, amen here shortly.
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All right, he's sick too. Therefore we ourselves boast of value in the churches of God for your steadfastness in faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.
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Their faith in Christ was a tested faith. It continued strong even when tried, and it was seen in their steadfastness.
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Their commitment to Jesus Christ was unwavering even when they were persecuted for their faith.
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Notice Paul mentions persecutions and afflictions. Probably persecutions are one specific form of the afflictions that they are enduring.
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Understand what we're saying here. These, as one wrote, these distresses are here characterized as persecutions, which is the more specific term, and afflictions, which is the more general term.
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In other words, afflictions are the category, persecutions are one, say, in a list within this category.
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And so afflictions, therefore, may be viewed as a category of various kinds of difficulties. Here persecutions is one form of afflictions that Christians suffer.
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Other kinds of afflictions may include, and I just gave a partial list here, sickness, weakness, money problems, family problems, those are afflictions, aren't they?
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Struggling with sin, those are afflictions, work issues, day -to -day obstacles that upset our peace and disturb our souls, afflictions.
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And these persecutions is one, but we can add these perhaps to the list as well, and I'm sure you could add to that list further.
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Take note, however, the absence of afflictions is no indication of God's favor.
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Let me underscore that, because some of you have this problem, particularly some of the younger
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Christians. You assume if you're having problems in life it's because God's disfavor rests upon you.
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You wrongly think that if your life was characterized by no afflictions,
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God's favor would be upon you. It's a wrong way to understand yourself and how
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God deals with you. There's the thought that if you're doing everything right, all should be going smoothly.
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Things are not going smoothly, so you must not be doing right. But rather, we should understand that the presence of afflictions may be expected.
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They are the norm. Regardless of whether you're walking close to Christ or not, they are the norm.
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The enduring of afflictions is the norm for the Christian life, and when you exercise and exhibit steadfastness of faith in the afflictions that you're enduring, then you have evidence that God's grace is upon you.
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You follow what we're saying? In other words, the presence of afflictions is no test in any way as to whether or not the
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Lord is for you or against you. Whether you're walking in favor with Him or not, you have to look to other matters.
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And so it's very easy, but it's very wrong, to think that we may be able to determine
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God's favor of us based on what is happening to us. But this is common.
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I heard it this week through Mary of a lady in our church. But it's not an unusual thing, because I'm sure that we all experience this at different times when we're not thinking rightly, behaving rightly.
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Paul used the term afflictions, and he was describing the common experience of Christians in the falling world.
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He was talking about persecutions with regard to them. These were the kinds of afflictions they were suffering. But the afflictions that they were experiencing were not unusual.
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They were not out of ordinary events, which only happen to some from time to time.
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Afflictions characterize most Christians, most of the time, in this present age.
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And if you're going through life right now and not experiencing afflictions, that is what is abnormal.
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And I guarantee you, it's only temporary, because afflictions is the course of this life for the
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Christian. The Greek word phallipsison, translated as afflictions here, is also translated as tribulation, or tribulations, it's a plural.
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And Paul used this word, this Greek word, elsewhere. Ephesians 3 .13,
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Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.
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2 Corinthians 6, We give no offense in anything that our ministry may not be blamed, but in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God in much patience in tribulations.
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And then he gives a longer list. Romans 5 .3, Not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance.
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Romans 8 .35, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ shall tribulation. All this same
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Greek word translated as afflictions in 2 Thessalonians 1 verse 3 or verse 4.
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2 Timothy 3 .10, But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions.
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There's the afflictions, same Greek word. 1 Thessalonians 3 verse 4,
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It was in the first epistle. For in fact we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation just as it happened and you know.
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What is portrayed for us through these verses and many others that could be cited is that the
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Christian life is characterized by tribulation. In fact, in our study of 2
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Thessalonians, and this is an important point, and few people understand this, but in our study of 2
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Thessalonians and related passages we should understand this entire church age is the period of tribulation.
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Most evangelicals project the period of tribulation as being a seven year period just before the second coming of Christ.
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They even say that's the great tribulation. But the Apostle Paul and other writers throughout
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Scripture present this beginning with the Lord Jesus coming into the world and throughout this church age as the time, the age of tribulation.
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And we're going to see that and address that more at a later time. Now next in verses 5 -10 we read of God bringing first judgment on persecutors as well as glory for his saints.
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And in this section of his epistle Paul explains some of the purposes that God has in bringing his people through their tribulations.
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Again verse 5, This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God for which you are also suffering.
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Since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us when the
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Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels and flaming fire inflicting vengeance on those who do not know
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God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction away from the presence of the
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Lord and from the glory of his might when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints and to be marveled at among all who have believed because our testimony to you was believed.
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In verse 5 Paul wrote, This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God for which you are also suffering.
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This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God for which you are also suffering.
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Leon Morris wrote these words. It's a lengthy quote but he says it clearly.
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Listen to this. It is at first sight somewhat difficult to follow the apostles' train of thought.
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To us the fact of suffering seems to deny rather than to prove that God is working out his righteous purpose.
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You know, we pray to God, help us to get well, help us to deal with these problems, bring a solution, a resolution, an end to all these difficulties, and we think that this is what
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God's purpose and intent is all about. No, it's not. But there are two things that must be said here.
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One is that the New Testament does not look on suffering in quite the same way as most modern people.
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To us, it, that is suffering, is an evil itself, something to be avoided at all costs.
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And by the way, there is nothing wrong with avoiding evil, but not at all costs. Now, while the
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New Testament does not gloss over this aspect of suffering, it does not lose sight either of the fact that in the providence of God, suffering is often the means of working out
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God's eternal purpose. It develops in the sufferer qualities of character.
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It teaches valuable lessons. Suffering is not thought of as something which may possibly be avoided by Christians.
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For him, that is for the Christian, it is inevitable. He is ordained to it.
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He must live out his life and develop his Christian character in a world which is dominated by non -Christian ideas.
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His faith is not some fragile thing to be kept in a kind of spiritual cotton wool, insulated from all shocks.
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It is robust. It is to be manifested in the fires of trouble and in the furnace of affliction.
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And not only is it to be manifested there, but in part at any rate, it is to be fashioned in such places.
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The very troubles and afflictions which the world heaps on the believer become under God the means of making him what he ought to be.
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Suffering, when we have come to regard it in this light, is not to be thought of as evidence that God has forsaken us, but as evidence that God is with us.
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Now, that is a transformative thought that will affect how you view yourself in God's world.
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Again, if we look at afflictions as evidence that somehow God is not for us and against us, that is the error of the health and wealth gospel that is proclaimed so widely.
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The fact is, our Lord suffered much tribulation in this world, and our God has predestined that Christians will be like their
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Lord in their suffering. As Jesus bore a cross, so he would have us bear a cross after him, which is such clear teaching from Scripture.
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If anyone will come after me, that is, if anyone is going to be a Christian, if anyone is going to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.
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This is the calling of all true disciples, that is, all true believers, to follow
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Jesus. And what this means is that God has appointed his people to suffer as his
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Son suffered. We won't read those verses, but they substantiate that.
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But it's a sad thing that our American culture knows little about the theology of suffering. That ignorance may be corrected in coming years, perhaps, because of the way our society is going.
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I suspect it will. But all over the world, the Lord's people know what this means.
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We don't. We think to escape suffering would be indicative that God's favor is upon us.
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Not necessarily so. Again, when you're increasing in faith, and increasing in your love for the brethren in the midst of your suffering, that is indicative that God's favor is upon you, and his grace is operative within you.
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Thankfully, suffering brings spiritual benefit to God's children. Suffering establishes proper priorities in our lives.
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Suffering sets our minds upon the Lord rather than sinful pleasures. Suffering severs the affections of our hearts from the things of this fallen world, and instills in us a right desire for the world to come.
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Suffering moves us to see our own weakness and the need for God's strength. Suffering enables us to better see our sinfulness and its effects, and our need for the
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Lord Jesus. And so ultimately, our suffering leads us to have faith in, hope for, the coming of the
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Lord Jesus Christ, when we'll be delivered once for all from the presence of all sin.
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And without suffering, we would not realize these things in our lives. And so God has predestinated that we would be conformed to Christ in his sufferings.
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And they lead to, of course, our glory. Paul wrote that we endure sufferings in order to learn to trust him.
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We do not want you to be ignorant brothers of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.
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This is Paul. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. Why? But that was to make us rely not on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead.
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And that's what the Lord wants to teach each and every one of us, right? And so he brings us through difficulties, afflictions.
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He appoints them for us to wean us of this world and wean us of ourselves so that we cleave to the
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Lord Jesus Christ. God allows us to encounter evil in order that we might learn to be strong and steadfast in adversity.
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And that's why the scriptures say, Counter all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.
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For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. Unless steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
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If we want to be perfect and complete and lacking nothing as Christians, then the afflictions have to be before us.
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Because that's what the Lord uses to produce these graces within us.
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And so let us not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is among us, which comes upon us for our testing as though some strange thing were happening to us.
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And certainly do not think that somehow God is against you, because you're having trouble in life.
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No, that's the nature of the beast, isn't it? That's what it is to be a Christian in this fallen world.
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If we're aligned with the Lord Jesus, then we're going to follow the path that he took.
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And it's going to end in our glory, just as it ended in his glory. And may that be realized soon.
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Let's pray. Thank you, Father, for your word. We pray that you would help us, our
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Lord, to be truly spiritually minded and understand these matters, our
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God, and embrace them. Help us, our Lord, that in spite of the afflictions that we are experiencing, our faith in you might increase and be demonstrated, and that our love for one another would increase as well.
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All to the end, our Father, that we can glorify you in these matters. For we pray in Jesus' name.
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Amen. For more information, visit www .fema
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.org For more information, visit www .fema .org For more information, visit www .fema .org For more information, visit www .fema