Think About It Series

INTRODUCTION

• People were longing for the return of the Lord, and some were more or less checking out of life, expecting Him to come at any moment.

• In the last couple of chapters of 1 Thessalonians, Paul wrote to comfort and encourage the folks concerning what would happen to those who died in Christ before His return.

• This brings us to the book of 2 Thessalonians.

• 2 Thessalonians was written just a few months after 1 Thessalonians.

• This fact would put the date of the letter between late 52 AD and early 53 AD.

• The letter was written because a report had reached Corinth concerning some troublesome new developments in the life of the church at Thessalonica.

• Some, using forged evidence alleged to be from the missionaries themselves (Paul, Silas, and Timothy), have been teaching that the day of the Lord had already begun.

• Paul needed to correct the false teaching.

• Paul indicated that certain great events must precede the Day of the Lord and insisted those events were still in the future.

• Some undisciplined (remember last week's message) Christians were still refusing to work to support themselves; those who were doing that needed to repent and become productive.

• The working Christians are directed to quit enabling undisciplined ones to continue in their undisciplined lifestyle and to take measures to lead the undisciplined to repentance. (Gareth Reese- 1-2 Thessalonians Commentary).

• We have talked about the temptation to think that God is not with us and that God does not care about how it appears that those perpetrating evil in this world are getting ahead.

• One would think that following Jesus would shield one from falling victim to being persecuted. Yet, at the church in Thessalonica, they faced the same persecution that Christians faced throughout the empire.

• In today's message, entitled Think About It, Paul seeks to encourage those in Christ to keep moving forward.

• He also wants them to understand that folks who reject Christ will not do well when the Lord returns.

• It can become easy to give up and quit when things are difficult.

• Paul wants all of us to think about the choices we are making in life because those choices matter; some, like will I obey Christ or reject Him, will have eternal ramifications.

• Let's turn to 2 Thessalonians 1, we will begin with verses 3-4.

2 Thessalonians 1:3–4 (NET 2nd ed.)

3 We ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith flourishes more and more and the love of each one of you all for one another is ever greater.

4 As a result we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and afflictions you are enduring.

SERMON

I. The praise.

• The passage begins with Paul's praise for the Christians' faith at Thessalonica for standing firm amid persecution.

• The word "OUGHT" expresses a moral obligation, not just a duty on the part of Paul to give thanks to God.

• In the first letter, Paul praised the Church highly, and the church may not have felt they deserved such high praise.

• Paul insists he has a moral obligation to offer such high praises for their faithfulness.

• The phrase RIGHTLY SO can be translated as IT IS FITTING; so what follows shows why the praise has been earned.

• 2 Thessalonians 1:3-4 provides us with a remarkable example of the Thessalonian believers' unwavering faith and love despite persecution.

• This passage offers an opportunity to explore the theme of spiritual growth amid adversity.

• In verses 3-4, we can recognize the power of faith.

• The Thessalonians' faith in God grew amidst trials, becoming a source of strength and encouragement for others.

• We can see how faith empowers us to face challenges, trust God's promises, and find hope in difficult times.

• Perseverance stresses active endurance under difficulty and pressure.

• It denoted patience put into practice in suffering.

1&2 Thessalonians (A. Thanksgiving for the Thessalonians’ Growth and Endurance in Persecution (1:3–4))

Faith refers in this context particularly to constancy in faith, or faithfulness: the readers have maintained their position in Christ despite the difficulties it has brought to them.

• Adversity, particularly persecution, can either strengthen you or destroy you.

• Amid all that was happening to the Christians at Thessalonica, faith flourished and strengthened.

• Perseverance and faith are the Thessalonians' one response to trials and persecution.

• Paul used two terms to describe what the church was facing.

• Persecution indicates suffering inflicted by others because of their opposition to one's beliefs.

• Afflictions can refer more broadly to any suffering, but in the New Testament, it is frequently used to refer specifically to persecution resulting from one's faith.