1 Thess 2:13-16 Trusting the Word of God
Paul came to the Thessalonians with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
• He thanked God constantly for this – that they received the Gospel with faith and believed it to be the Word from God.
• Not as words of Paul or of men but the very Word of God - the truth that God has revealed.
Acts 17 tells us how Paul spoke to them when he first came to Thessalonica.
• He reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” (Acts 17:2-3)
Three observations we can see in the conversion of the Thessalonians:
(1) THEY BELIEVE THE SCRIPTURES
God has spoken through the Scriptures.
• Their study of the Scriptures and its prophecies revealed that Jesus was indeed the Messiah and they believed.
• Paul did not come with his own message but the Gospel which he has been entrusted with (2:4). He simply proclaimed what God had said.
• And he thanked God that the Thessalonians believed.
Why thank God? Because it is the work of God.
• The GOSPEL is a work of God. To be able to BELIEVE it - is a work of God.
• The Holy Spirit enlightened them and gave them the faith to put their TRUST in Jesus.
• 1:5 “… the Gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.”
• They experienced a life change and that is the work of God.
Hence Paul says “we thank God constantly for this, that when you received the Word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the Word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.” (2:13)
Observation no. 2:
(2) THEY TRUST IT IS THE WORD OF GOD
They knew that the Gospel was not the words of Paul or any man. God has spoken.
• The message of the Gospel is not just another philosophy or human idea—it is a divine revelation, and it has the power to transform their lives.
• If you are a Christian today, I think you can identify with this. We know Jesus is real and He is with us. We experienced His love, grace and presence.
• We are grateful that someone shared the Gospel with us but we thank God because it is the work of God.
The good news of Jesus Christ is a message from God, not from man. No man came up with it; God revealed it.
• 2 Pet 1:20-21, “…no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
• Jesus Christ is the Son of God who came and died for the sins of the world.
• The punishment that we deserve for ignoring and rebelling against God has been paid for by Jesus Christ.
• When we put our trust in Jesus and what He has done for us, we are forgiven and justified.
• We are reconciled to God and this relationship changes us and the way we live. Jesus Christ is our only hope of a relationship with God.
Paul tells the Thessalonians that they had believed the Word of God “which is at work in you believers.” (2:13)
• Their faith is evidenced by the change Paul saw in them.
• He mentioned in 1:3 that he saw their work of faith, labour of love and their steadfastness of hope in Jesus Christ.
• Paul was giving evidence that God’s Word has been at work in them because WHAT they believe changed HOW they live.
And that’s true of us too. If you are a Christian today, you know.
• It is true of anyone willing to believe the Gospel and trust Jesus Christ as his or her Saviour.
The proof of the Thessalonians’ faith was seen, not only in their changed lives but also in the fact that they were prepared to face persecution because of it.
• They did not compromise or return to their old ways because of the opposition that came from the enemies of the Gospel.
• We know they were facing much persecution because Paul mentioned it many times in this letter - 1:6, 2:2, 2:14 and 3:2-3.
2:14 “For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews…”
Observation no. 3:
(3) THEY HELD FAST TO THE TRUTH
They persevered because the Gospel is the Word of God and it is true.
• The Thessalonians faced persecution from their own people (the Gentiles), much like the churches in Judea which suffered under the Jewish leaders.
• [When Paul talked about their suffering, he went on to recount what the Jewish leaders did. 2:15-16 “…who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind 16by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved…”]
Some rejected Christ and the Gospel and sought to prevent others from hearing the message of Jesus.
• The Thessalonians’ faith in Christ was not without cost but they held fast to the Gospel. It is the Word of God and it is true. They tasted it to be true.
FOLLOW YOUR BUBBLES
Scuba divers say if you go down deep into the sea, you can get so submerged that you lose sense of the direction because every turn looks the same. With a sense of weightlessness (because you are not experiencing gravity), you can get disorientated very quickly and cannot tell which way is up or down.
Scuba divers say you can look at the bubbles. It may seem, sometimes, that the air bubbles are going sideways, but they are taught to always trust the bubbles and follow them.
No matter what we think or feel, bubbles are always correct. They always go up.
Some things don’t change. What God has revealed to us is true and will not change.
• Isaiah 53:6 “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—everyone—to his own way.” We are lost without Christ.
• The Gospel is a revelation of Jesus Christ and the work that He has done for us.
• His work on the cross has been prophecied by the prophets before it happened and is now written in the Bible through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
We look back in history and we can understand what God has done.
• We may be more than 2000 years away from the time of Jesus but the truth remains - He is the Son of God who has come to save us from our sins.
The Thessalonians studied the Scriptures, heard the Gospel and believed. It was not the words of men but of God.
• They knew it to be true because their lives were changed.
• Although that faith brought about persecution, they stood firm because God had spoken and He had been at work in their lives.
FOLLOW THE WHITE VAN
A family is going for a vacation. The father drives the white van with his kids and all their luggage, while his wife drives her car and follows behind. As they moved through the city, they were caught in a little traffic jam.
The wife struggled to keep up but soon lost sight of the van. She looked around frantically and then caught sight of the white van again. She followed it happily for some time until it reached a petrol kiosk. She came to a stop and realised that she had been following the wrong van. She is lost and all her belongings are not with her.
It can look the same – same model, same make - but not all white vans can lead you to the right place.
We can be sincere but we can be sincerely wrong.
• It takes more than sincerity to make it in life. It takes truth.
• God knows what we need and has provided the answer to it. He has revealed His will to us through the Scriptures and Jesus Christ.
• Jesus said, “It is written [Deut 8:3], ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matt 4:4)
CONCLUSION:
The testimony of the Thessalonians reminds us of the importance of God’s Word.
• We BELIEVE in the Scriptures because it is the Word of God.
• God has spoken and we can TRUST Him. Faith in Jesus changes our lives.
• We can remain strong in our faith, even in difficult circumstances because God is with us and He remains true to us.
Like the Thessalonians, let us be staunch believers of God’s Word and continue to share the Gospel with others.
• Let us follow Him faithfully and live for Him wholeheartedly.
PRAYER:
Lord, we thank You for the gift of Your Word. Help us to receive it as the very Word of God, to trust in its power to change us.
Give us the strength to endure hardships for the sake of the Gospel and the courage to share the truth with those who need to hear it.
We pray that our faith will be steadfast, no matter the trials, and that we will always bring glory to Your Name. This we pray, in Jesus’ Name, AMEN.
