Introduction
Paul,
Silas and Timothy, the stated authors of 1 Thessalonians, are recounting their
reasons for encouragement about the Thessalonians, who they consider to be proper 'real deal' believers.
This is
all part of the purpose of the letter so far, which has been to build
solidarity by commending the way they so closely imitated real deal believers,
thereby pulling the Thessalonians (who they left hurriedly) closer to
themselves for the purpose of further 'imitation', mimesis and
discipleship-learning.
In today's
passage in 1 Thessalonians 2:13-16 the apostles are now re-capping the
thanksgiving they expressed first at the beginning of this section in 1:2 and
bringing to a conclusion this section of the epistle.
What am I suggesting that?
The section marker
In this
letter you've got the introduction which says who is writing to who, greets
them with grace and peace and then immediately in 1 Thessalonians 1:2
"We thank God always for all of you as we mention you constantly in our
prayers, BECAUSE ..."
And the
dot-dot-dots give the detailed, thought-through reasons why they give thanks
for those young (and rather abandoned) Thessalonian believers right up until
the next 'book end' on the shelf (as it were) which re-iterates the giving thanks
for them and sums it all up in verses 13-17 of chapter two in the section we
are now (finally) coming to.
The overall purpose of this section
The
purpose of the whole section from 1:2 - 2:12 is to lay out the reasons that the
Apostolic team gives thanks for these believers they've had to leave so
suddenly and that is being done to build on and to cement the relationship
between them and the apostles who are very focused on developing THAT sort of
teaching relationship (the mimetic, discipleship model Paul was so used to in
rabbinic Judaism) because the team has had to leave town because of the
particular way persecution had broken out and the big preaching event model of
face to face teaching and discipleship was no longer an option for the
foreseeable future there.
The
relationship had to be built and THAT is what it has all been about for a bit!
Now we are looking at the summary conclusion to that section.
What are
the summary key points of the thanksgiving, encouragement and reinforcement of
the teaching they've picked up on and lived out?
What are
the points of shared theology, commitment and spiritual experience that Paul
particularly picks up on to build closeness and solidarity?
I. Authentic response to the Gospel, v. 13
"And
we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which
you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is,
the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe."
A. We
preached God's Word to you
We saw
previously that the apostolic team had been Gospel-centred and modelled that
resolution to be Gospel-centred in their lives which were on open display to the Thessalonians.
What that
meant was to be decisive in preaching the Gospel to them ... now identified
here as the very Word of their God Himself.
Now,
Acts17:2-3 was explicit about what Paul actually said as he preached the Gospel, establishing the church in Thessalonica:
“Paul went to the Jews in the synagogue, as he customarily did, and on three Sabbath days he
addressed them from the scriptures, explaining and demonstrating[h] that
the Christ had to suffer and to rise from the dead, saying, “This Jesus I
am proclaiming to you is the Christ.””
His
evangelism there consisted in reasoning with the Thessalonians FROM THE SCRIPTURES.
It was re-emphasised
earlier in this section of the letter that there was an absolute clarity in
their mission at Thessalonica: nothing but preaching God's Word was going to be
preaching the Gospel, and that preaching the Gospel was necessary to Christian
mission.
But there
were a few further qualifying statements that Paul & co. needed to make to
hone their particular point.
When that intentional Word of God Gospel was preached, it needed to be accepted before it ever did anyone any good.
And the
encouraging thing about the Thessalonians was they accepted it the way a saved
person needs to.
B. You accepted
it for what it is
Now this is
crucially important.
You can
tell people the Gospel, rationalise it through, explain it well, use excellent
supporting argument and they accept may well like that.
They
accept it as a consistent case, a reasonable point of view, and they may even
assent to all that you are saying.
This is
the danger of rationalistic apologetics.
They say
'yes, that sounds very reasonable, I like the sound of that ... where do I
sign?'
But when
you've got to that point all that you've motivated is their intellectual
arrogance.
You're
about to put another notch on the cover of your leather-bound black Bible but
HOLD ON, we are far from 'there' yet!
UK
churches are full of people who are like that ... convinced, by persuasion
'Evangelical', but as yet nowhere near converted.
'That is NOT what we were up against with you', say these apostles.
1. Not
human words
"when
you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a
human word, but as it actually is, the word of God"
We are far
from the mark when someone's just seen the point.
We're
nowhere NEAR yet when they find us convincing.
It's
certainly NO good when they've respected our opinion.
It's not
our opinion we're concerned with.
They
haven't got it until they accept that our preaching isn't human words but the
very Word of God.
'That's
your opinion' is total outright rejection.
Until people recognise the authoritative proclamation of God in the communication to them of God's
Word, then they aren't going to accept its authority or submit to Christ's
Lordship.
You see, 'Evangelical'
is not 'another sort of Christian'.
You're not
reliably Christian, and there's no cause for confidence and rejoicing over you,
until you see that the Apostolic message isn't their message, but is actually the Word of God Himself.
And you
haven't seen that until you've accepted that it has that level of authority ...
until you've pledged allegiance to the King Who speaks through it His will for
you, and fallen (because of its authority) into line with His plans for you.
You may
say, 'that means there's not so many Christians about and we want to be a
broader church than that!'
Well ... really?
Go ahead!
The Lord
said there'd be more on the broad way ... check out where THAT gets you from
the Sermon on the Mount, it's found in Matthew 7:13!
The
Thessalonians had seen the point, if the message of the Apostles was anything
it called for repentance and faith ... and if it was truly God's Word, you needed
to sit up and to ACT on it.
2. God's
Word
What do we
mean by 'God's Word'?
- It's not just another title for a book.
- It describes the function of the letters on the page.
- It is the Word that comes from God Himself.
Now, we
know exactly what the NT says about the Scriptures because both Peter and Paul
write about this.
a. Peter - 1 Peter 1:20
Peter says that the Scriptures are entirely reliable and are the light for our hearts until Christ the Light returns in v. 19, then goes on in v. 20-21 to say:
"No
prophecy of scripture ever comes about by the prophet’s own imagination,
for no
prophecy was ever borne of human impulse;
rather,
men carried along by the Holy Spirit spoke from God."
b. Paul - 2 Timothy 3:16-17
Paul goes on
record later as he writes to Timothy that the Scriptures (a technical term
Peter uses later to describe Paul’s letters – it’s NOT just the Old testament
then, by the way) are the vibrations placed into the outbreathed breath of God!
As the NET
puts it:
“Every scripture is inspired by God and
useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in
righteousness, that the person dedicated to God may
be capable and equipped for every good work.”
You received that Word for exactly what it is, the
team writes here.
And then there’s the emphasised aspect that this
is God’s LIVING Word not just inspired but applied by the Spirit now at work in
them, and embodied in the lives they now lead
c. Hebrews 4:11-12
This word
is a living word that is focused on the basis of what the eye of the all seeing
God picks up to go straight to the needs of our hearts, preserving us from sin
and keeping us walking in the way of salvation:
"Thus
we must make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by
following the same pattern of disobedience.
For the
word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword,
piercing even to the point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints from
marrow; it is able to judge the desires and thoughts of the heart.
And no
creature is hidden from God, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of
him to whom we must render an account."
So that
means it is active in your life and Paul sees that happening in the lives of
these Thessalonians ... and that's an encouraging sign of their being the real
deal too.
We’ve
noticed this, then, already, but the apostolic team is saying here:
3. God's
LIVING Word, at work IN you
1
Thessalonians 2:13b
"you accepted it not as a human message, but as it truly is, God’s
message, which is at work among you who believe."
They’ve
made an encouraging and uniting response to the Gospel, and they’ve shown
authentic experience of discipleship, vv. 14-16
II. Authentic experience as disciples, vv. 14-16
You've got
to remember that 1 Thessalonians is a VERY early letter and that Gentile
churches area very new idea.
As
recently as Acts 15 Paul was having to defend the identity in Christ of
distinctively Gentile Christian churches living outside the ceremonial and
ritual laws of Judaism at the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15, then it was just
a campaign in Derbe then at Lystra in Acts 16 before the call from the Man of
Macedonia over to Philippi where there was a church plant then a quick
flogging, gaol break and a rapid run straight down to Thessalonica.
Asserting
the identity of this largely Gentile congregation with their brothers and
sisters in the churches of Jerusalem and Judea was a RADICALLY inclusive,
identifying, solidarity building thing to do.
"For
you became imitators, brothers and sisters, of God’s churches in Christ Jesus
that are in Judea,
because
you too suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they in fact did
from the Jews,
who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets and persecuted us severely.
They
are displeasing to God and are opposed to all people, because they hinder us
from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved.
Thus
they constantly fill up their measure of sins, but wrath has come upon them
completely."
A. Imitators of the already authenticated church in Judea
There was
a Jewish-Gentile acceptance issue in the early church.
Paul has
been heavily engaged on this matter and has represented the cause of Gentile
inclusion ... something clearly prophesied in the OT ... with total passion.
He even
opposed Peter to his face (Galatians 2:9-14) on withdrawing from Gentile
fellowship when Jewish background believers turned up.
The
apostles had recognised the Holy Spirit as at work in Paul's ministry to the
Gentiles just as He was in Peter's to the Jewish people (as Galatians 2 makes
clear) but it was the ongoing problem of bringing the everyday stuff into line
with their theology ... eating and drinking together, stuff like that ... which
was causing the ongoing disunity.
The first
united effort to tackle THAT has just been made at the Council of Jerusalem in
Acts 15 and this solidarity with the Jewish church is still something that
needs to be emphasised in the Thessalonians context.
But look
at the turf on which this solidarity is getting established here ... it's
really not about having the same cultural practices or hymn books!
B. Imitating their persecution
They
became imitators of God’s churches in Christ Jesus located in Judea:
"because
you too suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they in fact did
from the Jews ..."
Interestingly,
Paul does not directly criticise the pagan persecution we understand was going
on in Thessalonica, but he does so by association with the Judean persecutions,
which he does openly criticise ... another indication of the reality of
Thessalonian suffering - he's doing this to prevent further aggravation for the
Thessalonians should the content of this letter fall into enemy hands!
Now, we
know from other passages of Scripture that Paul counts persecution for the
cause of Christ to be an authenticating factor for life and ministry.
It
indicates that the enemy of souls who opposes God's incoming Kingdom perseveres
you to be a treat to his God-dishonouring work.
When he
needs to defend his own ministry to the Corinthians against the
'super-apostles' ... the tele-evangelist types of his day ... Paul boasts of
his troubles and persecutions by means of which his ministry has stirred the
furies of the hosts of hell! (2 Corinthians 11:23-29)
What the
Jewish leaders did to the Jewish origin churches, so your pagan leaders have
done to you ... faithfully persevering through that is something of theirs you
imitated - you Thessalonian believers really are the real deal.
This
cements Jewish-Gentile unity in the New Testament church far more solidly that
a letter from a Church Council .... and that matters because it puts into
effect what Ephesians 1:10 describes as the eternal plan and purpose of God to
bring all things together again under the headship of Christ.
So the
upshot of that is clear, you Thessalonian believers ...
C. Solidarity - you're the 'us' not the 'them'
And the
Spirit makes such people who have had created within them the unity of the
Spirit ... that same Spirit longs for closeness, proximity and fellowship, face
to face, with other believers.
Let’s not
take time explaining that now but take a peek at what it looks like in vv.
17-20
III. Authentic flocking of birds of same feather, vv. 17-20
The
apostles just can't wait to get back to them!
a) Physical is not spiritual separation
"But when we were separated from you, brothers and sisters, for a
short time (in presence, not in affection) …”
It’s only
their physical presence not the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace that’s
been lost.
The Greek
says “in face, not in heart.”
Fellowship can remain and be real in such
circumstances, apparently, even without YouTube, ZOOM meetings and YouTube … not
so much room for whingeing about not face to face meeting in what Paul’s saying
there then, is there?!
But the second
principle also needs to be noticed here …
b) True brothers and sisters just long to be together
v. 17b “we
became all the more fervent in our great desire to see you in person.”
Again the Greek says “fervent with great
desire to see your face”.
There’s
not much tempered moderation in the language!
Is that
our sense of solidarity with our brethren?
Or
have we decided during lockdown we’re not so bothered – that church is fine,
but you can take it or just leave it?
The
apostles confidence the Thessalonians were the real deal was that the apostles had
found the Spirit bind the apostles hearts in love to those believers and they
LONGED with fervent, great desire to see their face.
c) It’s the enemy of souls that doesn’t want to see it happen
“For we
wanted to come to you (I, Paul, in fact tried again and again) but Satan
thwarted us.”
How can you say that?These guys are apostles and fine Christians ... how can satan possibly have stopped them?!
Well, Paul had
read the book of Job before, and you see that here.
He knew
that the enemy opposes God’s will but God sometimes lets it go because the
enemy’s just a snarling dog at the end of the Almighty’s leash, used sometimes
to test, to prove God’s faithful people’s mettle and to exercise their faith and build their 'muscles'.
But we
need to recognise from what we’re reading here that it’s the enemy’s passion to
prevent God’s people gathering, yet God’s providence which sometimes permits
this normally objectionable thing to happen – and uses that for (puzzling) purposes
of His own.
Verses
19-20 display the apostles concluding, uniting thought on this
d) Delight in one another is a touchstone of a real deal Christian faith
vv. 19-20 “For who is our hope or joy or crown to
boast of before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not of course you? For
you are our glory and joy!"
There's a
cry in that heart that goes up for other genuine believers.
We've
witnessed that through our lock-down experiences.
It's been
a frustrating joy to witness all this year!
But when
where you're dealing with defective discipleship ... it's not there.
Sadly we’ve
seen the effects of that in this year of pandemic lockdown as well, as the Lord
has used it to winnow amongst His people.
But His
FAITHFUL, remnant people still standing at the end of it … YOU says the
apostolic team are our glory and joy.
Conclusion
Paul is
about to move on to deal with other issues now in chapter 3.
Interestingly,
some that arose out of the Council of Jerusalem and its' letter to Gentile
believers ... but these first two chapters have fulfilled the role of embracing
and including and commending the new gentile believers at Thessalonica and
commending them for imitating the best aspects of Christian faith and conduct,
acknowledging by means of this that God is so genuinely at work in them,
yielding in them the fruit of His Gospel.
The
apostles will move forward from there to fine tune their discipleship-based
learning about walking with God.
But the foundation is laid by embracing them in
their commitment to Christ as the precursor to more mimetic, discipleship
learning at a time when they're not able - in God's Providence - to meet face
to face for encouragement and instruction in the Way.
Let's face
it, statistically this seems to have been the Saviour's commonest way of doing
things too.
Christians have got very uptight about restrictions on gathering, but honestly, the
Lord wouldn't have been so bothered about it.
Jesus did
small group, one to one discipleship stuff MOST of His time.
Now, I LOVE the
big meetings, the singing, the presence of God in huge crowds of His people.
But that
same God is present in the quiet and the stillness, in the loneliness of David in the desert and the gatherings of two
or three persecuted believers meeting secretly in His Name.
What
changes with the big crowds is often no more complex than the emotion that a
large group lets loose.
I'm not
saying that there's anything wrong about that ... neither that I don't long for
conferences and big worship and preaching events to return.
The Spirit
of God's longing within us for face-to-face fellowship is something Paul openly
acknowledges in this passage.
But I am
saying we shouldn't feel hampered or drift off at times when we need to shift
our emphasis to discipleship and mimesis-based encouragement and learning.
Those
times also come as the Providence of God to us ... and drifting off because we
aren't getting what we LIKED having the privilege to do previously is no
evidence of the sort of real-deal believing that was so evident in Thessalonica.
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