God's Message
To help believers become mature,
spiritual leaders must continually teach them
God's divine message in Scripture
in times of peace as well as persecution.
Here's Gene:
As we look at this Principle
and as we look at the context
from which it comes here in this letter,
it's uniquely connected to
Paul's prayer of thanksgiving.
In fact, you'll see right from the very beginning,
Paul prayed this on behalf of
Silas and Timothy:
We always thank God for all of you,
making mention of you constantly
in our prayers.
And why were they thanking God
constantly in their prayers?
Because of their work produced by faith,
their labor motivated by love,
and [their] endurance inspired by hope.
And now, at this point in the letter,
Paul continues his prayer of thanksgiving.
You see this continuity.
And here's what he says in
1st Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 13:
This is why...
Because of your faith, hope, and love
and you're following Christ:
...This is why we constantly thank God...
See it's a continuation.
...because when you received
the word of God that you heard from us,
you welcomed it not as a human message,
but as it truly is, the word of God,
which also works effectively
in you who believe.
In other words, Paul is saying,
we thank God for your faith, hope, and love.
But we know that that faith, hope, and love
has happened in your lives
because you received the Word of God.
You received the truth of the Word of God.
Because without the Word of God,
you cannot have faith, hope, and love.
You don't even know what it is.
And so he's thanking God that
they received the Word of God.
But he is simply saying that
it is something that you must
continue to learn in order to grow
in your Christian lives.
You not only came to faith in Christ
because of the Word of God.
But the Word of God is working in you who believe.
It is continuing to work in your life
as the basis of spiritual growth.
And as I was reflecting on
what Paul was writing here,
I couldn't help but think of
an incredible statement by the author of Hebrews.
We don't know who that author was.
Some believe it was Paul.
I personally believe it probably
was someone else other than Paul.
But that doesn't matter,
it's the Word of God.
And here's the statement about Scripture:
For the word of God is living
and effective and sharper than
any double-edged sword...
Boy, that's a powerful metaphor--
a double-edged sword:
...penetrating as far as the separation
of soul and spirit...
And here he mixes his metaphors:
...joints and marrow. ...
In order to get the point across.
Now it's difficult to distinguish
between soul and spirit in Scripture.
But what Paul is saying is: The Word of God
is sharper than any two-edged sword
and it can separate soul and spirit.
Even though we may have
difficulty understanding it:
...It is able to judge the thoughts
and intentions of the heart.
That's the power of Scripture.
And that's why we need to
continue to teach Scripture.
It's not my words that produce spiritual growth.
It's not your words.
It's not the words of philosophers
or individuals who come up with nice ideas.
Although it may represent truth.
The most foundational truth
comes from Scripture.
And that's what produces spiritual growth.
And that's why Paul wrote to Timothy
when he was--knew he was going to die.
He's in a dungeon in Rome.
And he wrote the last letter to Timothy.
His last letter he wrote.
And he said to Timothy:
Timothy, you've been with me all this time.
But I just want to encourage you:
Preach the word;
[Preach the word;]
be ready in season [and] out of season;
rebuke, correct, and encourage...
You see, these words, very similar
to what he said as a father.
We encouraged you. We taught you.
What's the basis of authority
in communicating with people?
It's the Word.
That's the basis of rebuke
or correction or encouraging. Why?
Because it's the will of God,
from the word of God:
...encourage with great patience and teaching.
For the time will come when
people will not tolerate sound doctrine...
Or sound teaching.
Has that ever happened in your experience?
As you've watched people in our culture.
They won't tolerate sound doctrine,
sound teaching any more:
...but according to their own desires...
And that's what leads people away
from the Word of God, from God's desires:
...but according to their own desires,
will multiply teachers for themselves
because they have an itch to hear
what they want to hear. ...
That can be a tendency in every one of us
if we're not careful.
Tell me what I want to hear.
Not what I need to hear.
And Paul goes on to say:
...They will turn away from hearing the truth
and will turn aside to myths.
And what is the truth?
The truth is what we know
about Jesus Christ in Scripture.
The whole redemptive story
revolves around the Messiah,
Jesus Christ. Who came in human flesh,
representing God the Father.
Who was God the Father?
Bringing us hope in Christ.
What is the truth?
It's the Trinity--God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit.
One God, three persons.
What is the truth?
We're saved by grace through faith.
And not of ourselves, it's a gift of God.
But we are his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus to do good works.
It's modeling faith, hope, and love.
Becoming more and more like Jesus Christ.
And today, unfortunately, many people
are turning away from the truth.
Now thankfully today we have
the whole of Scripture,
which is a marvelous thing.
And I've been just reviewing
the whole process of having
the Scriptures in our hands today.
And realize that, you know,
in the second century, even after
the apostles went home to be with glory,
these letters were separate.
And the Thessalonians may have
never read the letter that was
written to the Ephesians.
Maybe they read the one
that was written to the Philippians
because they were only a hundred miles away.
But there were many of the believers
who never read the letter to the Romans.
In fact, they couldn't read it.
They had to hear it.
Because it was dictated in manuscripts
that were read.
And that was true even in the third century,
until these letters.
And everybody agreed,
who really understood, that this was God's Word.
And brought it together
in the New Testament with these
27 documents that we have.
Which we firmly believe is the Word of God.
But then you follow the history
into 400's and the 500's and the 600's
and into the darkness that
existed for a thousand years.
And the distortions of Christianity.
Until the Reformation in the 1500's.
What about those people
who live a millennium,
a thousand years without understanding Scripture.
And here today, because of individuals
who literally gave their lives.
Such as Tyndale, who was burned at the stake
because he translated the Bible into English.
Today we have the whole of Scripture
in order to understand God's will.
For me that simply says:
Gene, never, ever take it for granted.
And so we have the Word of God.
And so here's a Reflection and Response question:
How is [the] principle regarding
faithful biblical preaching and teaching
violated in many churches today...
In our culture, even though we have
the whole of Scripture.
And it's being violated:
...even among those who believe
[that] the Bible is the inspired Word [of] God?
Well, one thing that I've noticed:
If we're not careful as spiritual leaders,
we avoid the issues that God deals with
directly in order not to offend people.
Think of what is true in terms of
our moral climate today.
And our moral values.
When have you ever seen
a secular program on TV,
even funny shows,
that believe that premarital sex
is out of the will of God?
I haven't seen one for a long time.
So people think you're old fashioned,
out of touch with reality,
if you believe in moral purity
according to the Scriptures.
That sex is a gift God's given for marriage.
And what if we're not careful?
We just avoid talking about it.
And we emphasize salvation
without talking about sanctification.
That is becoming more and more
like Jesus once we're saved.
And that can be very serious
in relationship to immaturity
within the church of Jesus Christ.
Now I believe that we need
to follow Paul's example
and communicate it in a Christlike way.
Like a father. Like a loving, nursing mother.
We can speak the truth in love
but we need to speak the truth.
Because if we don't speak the truth,
people are not going to change
because they don't know what the truth is.
Another thing that I see happening is
we interpret Scriptures and send a message
that doesn't reflect God's total perspective.
We just pick and choose.
For example, there are some pastors,
who claim to believe the Bible,
and they won't use the word "sin."
They say that's too offensive.
We've got to think in terms of the positives.
And they never talk about sin.
How are people going to know
they even need to be saved?
If they don't understand that all have sinned
and fallen short of the glory of God.
And the wages of sin is death.
So you see, if we're not careful
as spiritual leaders, we can violate
this Principle in our lives.
And avoid the subject of sin.
Or the consequences of sin.
Such as, avoiding even the concept of lostness
without Jesus Christ.
So I believe this Principle is very relevant today.
It's always relevant--will be until Jesus comes.
But let's not forget it:
To help believers become mature,
spiritual leaders must continually teach them
God's divine message in Scripture
in times of peace as well as persecution.