WWUTT 528 Considered Worthy of the Kingdom?

Did you know that when you are persecuted for your faith, when you are even insulted or ridiculed because you worship

Jesus, it's because God has counted you worthy to suffer for the name of Christ?

When we understand the text. This is when we understand the text studying

God's word to reach all the riches of full assurance in Christ. Find all our videos online at www .wutt

.com, as well as links to follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Here's your teacher,

Pastor Gabe Hughes. Thank you, Becky. And greetings, everyone. We continue our study of 2

Thessalonians chapter 1. I'm going to begin in verse 5 and read through to the end of the chapter.

Paul writes, 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

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

Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know

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

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.

In 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

Lord Jesus may be glorified in you and you in Him, according to the grace of our

God and the Lord Jesus Christ. So remember yesterday in verses 3 and 4,

Paul said, We ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and the afflictions that you are enduring.

And then says in verse 5, This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom for which you are also suffering.

So consider the story of the apostles in Acts chapter 5. They had been preaching in Jerusalem and in the surrounding communities.

They were healing the sick and doing miraculous signs, affirming that the words that they spoke were truly the words of God.

But then the Pharisees and the Sadducees, they were filled with jealousy because the people were listening to the message that the apostles were preaching, talking about how

Jesus Christ, whom the Pharisees and Sadducees had put to death, Jesus Christ was risen and he is

God. And people were believing it and following Christ. And so they had the apostles arrested.

They threw them in prison. But during the night, an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors for them and said,

Go stand at the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life, the words of eternal life, the gospel of Christ.

So they did. At dawn, they went into the temple and the apostles continued preaching. So then when the high priest came, he called together a council and then sent for the apostles to be brought to him.

But then when the guards went to the prison, they returned and reported, we found the prison securely locked.

The guards were even standing there at the doors. But when we looked in, there was nobody, nobody was there.

And so then everybody was was totally baffled by this until someone said, look, the men you put in prison, they're now standing in the temple and they're preaching to the people.

So the priests and the Sadducees, they did the same thing again. They arrested the apostles and brought them before them.

And so they said, we strictly charge you not to teach in the name of Christ.

Yet here you are. You have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us talking about Christ, whom they had put to death.

And Peter and the apostles answered, we must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised

Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as leader and savior to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

And we are witnesses to these things. And so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.

And so the priests were enraged. The Pharisees and the Sadducees wanted to kill the apostles, but then

Gamaliel stand up and gave his speech and and therefore spared the apostles the wrath that would have come upon them by the council.

So what they did instead was they had them beaten and then charged them not to speak in the name of Christ and let them go.

But then, of course, what do we read? Acts chapter five verses forty one and forty two. Then they left the presence of the council rejoicing that they were they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name of Christ.

And every day in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the

Christ is Jesus. Jesus is the Messiah who was promised.

He affirmed it by what he taught, by what he claimed, by the miracles that he performed, by dying as was prophesied and everything the way that it was prophesied would happen is exactly what happened.

Jesus was buried. He rose again. He showed himself for 40 days to over 500 witnesses, then ascended into heaven.

Then over 100 people gathered there at the Mount of Olives who saw him ascend and then went into Jerusalem and waited for the

Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. And then the Holy Spirit upon the apostles was confirmed by the tongues that they spoke when they went out into Jerusalem and now even here by these miracles that they are performing.

So the message of Jesus Christ, the gospel that was being proclaimed, was affirmed by all of these things, by those who were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

They continued to preach that Jesus is the Messiah that was prophesied in the Old Testament and he fulfilled all of these things.

But it's verse 41 in particular. The reason why I bring this story up is because it says they left the presence of the council after they were beaten, rejoicing, rejoicing after they had been beaten, after they had been persecuted, persecuted in a way you have probably never been persecuted.

Now we actually do have listeners to this program outside the

U .S. Most listeners are from the United States of America, about 80 to 85 % of the listeners that we have are here in the

U .S., but then about another 15 to 20 % are outside the U .S. And maybe you live in a territory or an area in which you have been persecuted for preaching the gospel of Christ.

You are counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name of Christ, just as the apostles were and just as Paul is saying that the

Thessalonians are. They're counted worthy to suffer for the name of Christ. 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.

Those who are persecuting you, it is evident that they're going to be destroyed in the final judgment.

But you who are being persecuted, it is evident that the grace of God is upon you and you have been counted worthy to suffer for the name of Christ.

Peter says this also in 1 Peter 4, where he says, beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you as though something strange were happening to you, but rejoice insofar as you share

Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

Get this, verse 14, if you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

The spirit and glory of God rests upon you if you have been insulted for the name of Christ.

Now while we might not be physically beaten here in the U .S., in some places you can be.

There are places where you can go and pronounce Christ and people will beat you for it. You can find videos on YouTube about it.

Just somebody standing there with a sign at a certain protest or rally and then people come up to him and start physically harassing them.

So yes, even in the United States you can be beaten for the faith that you have, but you will at the very least suffer insult for this faith that you have, the godliness that you are pursuing.

As we talked about yesterday, just by the mere fact that you will not join the pagans, the unbelievers in their debauchery, they're going to make fun of you for the fact that you won't do what it is that they do.

I went through that in college simply because I wasn't sleeping around. There were people that made fun of me for that, assumed things about me that weren't true because I wasn't sleeping around with some girl.

Just because I desired to live a godly life in Christ Jesus, I was ridiculed for that.

And so we need to understand that we're being counted worthy to suffer for the name of Christ and rejoice in that just as the apostles rejoiced in this as well.

Paul says to the Philippians in Philippians 1 .28, do not be frightened by your opponents because this is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation and that from God.

The very fact that they persecuted the people of God is a sign of their destruction, that they've been set aside for destruction.

But it is a sign that you will be delivered into God's kingdom because you've been counted worthy to suffer for the name.

Now, just because somebody would ridicule you or make fun of you, that doesn't mean you should respond by saying, ha ha, you're going to get yours one of these days.

The wrath of God is coming upon you. So yeah, thanks for sealing your fate. OK, that that's not the way that we respond.

Remember that the apostle Paul was a persecutor of Christians, and yet it was

God when he was when he was Saul of Tarsus. It was God who appeared to him there on the road of Damascus and blinded his eyes, led him to Ananias, who then led him to Christ.

And then Paul became the apostle to the Gentiles. So God changed his heart to do this great work for the faith, where previously he was a persecutor of Christians, then he was leading people to become

Christians. So God can do a gracious work in a person, even someone who previously persecuted

Christians could be someone who would have a change of heart and find repentance granted to them by God and become part of the kingdom people of God.

So that is that is a work for the Lord to do. We have a responsibility to remain faithful to the gospel that we have been taught and to share it with others and to pursue holiness and righteousness, obeying the commands of Christ.

Jesus saying, you will show me that you love me when you obey what it is that I have commanded you.

So as we are lovers of God, friends of Jesus, obey his commands, do what he commanded for you to do, live in righteousness and pursue holiness, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and let your life be a testament, a verification of the

Christ whom you serve. So once again, this is evidence of the righteous judgment of God that will come upon those who have persecuted and ridiculed

Christians and that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God for which you are suffering.

That's second Thessalonians one five. So here's verse six. Now, then, if you've ever been in a situation where somebody has made fun of you for your faith or made things hard on you because of the

Christ whom you proclaim, whom you worship and you're kind of looking at your situation and wondering, well, why haven't they gotten theirs yet?

You know, why? Why am I feeling miserable? But they look all high and mighty and blessed and like nothing bad is ever going to happen to them.

Maybe I need to take matters into my own hands. No, don't do that. For remember what was written to us in Romans chapter twelve, vengeance is mine, saith the

Lord. In Ecclesiastes chapter eight, beginning in verse eleven, we read because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil, though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life.

Yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God because they fear before him, but it will not be well with the wicked.

Neither will he prolong his days like a shadow because he does not fear before God.

So in other words, the wicked is going to receive his judgment. If you fear

God and remain in his righteousness, you have nothing to fear of that judgment.

You will be delivered on the day of judgment because Christ Jesus has covered you with his righteousness and has forgiven you of your sins.

But those who do evil in the sight of God, their their sentence is prolonged.

And so therefore they continue to do evil deeds. But a day will come when judgment will fall upon them.

And that's what we read about here in second second Thessalonians chapter one as we go on.

So again, verse six, 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

Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know

God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. So vengeance is coming when it is coming on the day of Christ.

And we see that the judgment of God is is awesome the way that Paul describes it there.

He comes back with his mighty angels in flaming fire, which means he is consuming, consuming the wicked.

None of them will stand inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and who do not obey the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Understand that the gospel of Jesus Christ is as much a command as it is a message.

What do we mean by that? Well, remember what Jesus preached, Matthew four, 17, the very first words of his earthly ministry repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

So the command of the gospel of Christ is to repent, to no longer be following after the course of this world, following after the passions and the desires of our sinful minds, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.

But instead we would turn and we would follow Christ, king of kings and Lord of lords, who is going to come back and execute judgment against all those who did not obey his word.

John three 36 says he who has the son has life, but he who does not obey the son shall not see life for the wrath of God remains on him.

Repent and believe our commands. They're not suggestions. They are commands and those who are his sheep will follow them.

You will turn from your sin and you will follow Jesus. You will no longer be going your own way.

That's in Isaiah 53, all of us who are like sheep, we have gone our own way, but the

Lord has laid upon him the iniquity of us all. We had gone our own way.

We were going to be destroyed, but the sins that we had committed against God were laid upon Christ. They were paid for on the cross at Calvary and now we stand before God justified, clothed in his righteousness.

And so if that is the case, then we will turn from our sin. We will repent and do the things that Jesus commands us to do rather than the things that the lawless one is doing among the sons of disobedience.

We won't live that way anymore. The old self has died. The new has come.

If you are in Christ, you are a new creation. The old is passed away. The new has come.

So we must live in the way of the new man, the cleansed man, the one who has been washed by the cleansing of the word by his

Holy Spirit. And we must do what Jesus has commanded us to do. This is the evidence that we show that we have been changed.

No longer following in the course and the pattern of this world, but being transformed by the renewing of our minds and then following after the good, pleasing and perfect will of God.

This is what we as Christians do. We obey the gospel to repent and live as kingdom children in this world.

Those who do not obey the gospel will be destroyed at the final judgment, but those who are afflicted will be relieved, will be delivered, will be fellow heirs in the kingdom of Christ.

We do not deserve this for we are sinners who are worthy of the judgment and wrath of God, but he has shown us grace and mercy so that his name would be praised.

Not so we would boast in anything that we have done. So praise the name of the

Lord. But do you desire that your neighbor would be spared this judgment that is going to come upon them if they do not repent and follow the gospel?

Then preach to them, share with them the hope of the message of Jesus Christ, which has the power to save a soul from death and grant eternal life.

The message of life that we have in Jesus Christ. So we must preach this to our families, to our neighbors, to the world.

Let us be diligent to do so. Now God is patient and he is kind, just as love is described in 1

Corinthians 13, 4 as being patient and kind. So his patience, as it says in Romans 2, 4, is meant to lead you to repentance, meant to lead someone else to repentance.

In 2 Peter 3, it says that God is not slow to fulfill his promise, as some count slowness, but he is patient towards you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

The full number of those whom God intends to turn from their sin and worship him.

He is patient in staying his wrath until the full measure of those who are going to repent do and come into the kingdom of God.

We don't know who the elect are, but we have a responsibility to preach the gospel so that his elect would hear the gospel and turn from sin and believe it.

Preach because you love God and he has commanded you to teach others about the gospel of Jesus Christ and preach because you love your neighbor and you do not want them to perish, but to have eternal life in Jesus Christ.

God give us boldness to declare your gospel, give us the steadfastness to obey it and help us to grow in love for God, for your word, for our brothers in Christ and also for others that they might hear the gospel and repent and live.

And we pray this in Jesus name, Amen. You've been listening to When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Gabe will be going through a New Testament study. Then on Thursday, we look at an

Old Testament book. On Friday, we take questions from the listeners and viewers. Tomorrow, we'll pick up on an