1 Thessalonians 1

We long for a world full of grace and peace. While we can have a measure of these things now, we live in a world of noticeable turmoil. Even if we could find our way to some protected island where no one could trouble us, we still would not be able to be rid of all the disquieting doubts and sins that are within us. As those who have heard and believed the Word of hope, how are we to live in this time of trouble and opportunity as we wait for the appearing of our confident expectation?

In First and Second Thessalonians, Paul writes to a very new Christian church that faced almost immediate opposition from other Jews who had once been their companions in synagogue worship, but who had come to reject the message of grace and peace preached by the Apostle. Their disdain for the gospel was not passive or casual, but active and destructive. Some were willing to bring bodily harm on others in their hatred of the message of the Father and the Son. They were not content merely to drive Paul out of Thessalonica; they even followed him to a neighboring town and stirred up opposition to him in that place.

The account that we read about these matters in Acts 17 and in these two letters should remind us that it is not such a surprising thing for us to find that some have a violent response to the message of divine love. These kinds of troubles are not signs that we are rejected by God. Nor are they an indication that something has gone terribly wrong. They may instead be reason for thanksgiving, for the Lord has permitted us to face some measure of suffering for the sake of the Name of His Son. If we are able to persevere in works of faith, in the labor of love, and in the steadfastness of hope, that stability is a gift from the Lord, and will cause many to give thanks to God for His work in us. These troubles are not evidence that the Lord has abandoned us. We are loved by God and chosen for His kingdom purposes in our generation in the midst of suffering.

When the gospel of the sacrificial love of God in Christ is preached in any place, the reaction to that Word can be varied. The message could be completely rejected. It is also possible for Christian preaching to be received, but in word only. Our reception of the truth is tested when trouble or persecution comes, or when the demands of a busy life resurface after our initial enthusiasm begins to wane. There is also the possibility that the gospel will come to us in the power of the Holy Spirit. It is in the midst of suffering that true spirituality is proven. If we stand firm in the face of danger, the power of God is at work. This was the way for believers in Judea, and for the apostolic messengers who spoke the Word of the Lord Jesus. It was also the case for those who trusted Christ in this important city in the Roman province of Macedonia.

Can we find the joy of the Holy Spirit though we may be despised and afflicted by men? If we can, it is very likely that the persecution we face will not halt the forward momentum of the message of Christ’s death for sinners. News like that spreads quickly. Who is standing firm in a day of severe testing? People want to know that sort of thing, and we have the privilege of being examples to them of the Word of the Lord in action. It is Christ, our head, who is at work in His church, His body. Are we standing firm? Are we still believing and living out the faith in love? Our heavenly Captain, the Lord Jesus, is the One who should be praised for that victory.

If a message of glory is to be proclaimed involving us, let is be a message of the power of the Lord working through weak sinners, and not the message of our own success. If we are to be an example to anyone else, may they know for certain that Christ has done a good work through us as His unworthy servants. Our obedience to the Lord in the face of even murderous opposition is about God’s work in us, and is not a reflection of our own natural courage or ability. Have we turned from the idolatries of the place we once called home? Have we begun to worship a God who really hears, sees, and speaks? He is certainly to be preferred to lifeless statues fashioned by the hands of men. Even better, we worship the God who became man, and dwelt among His people, demonstrating His divinity, and then dying for our sins.

It is this Jesus we are waiting for from heaven. He was raised from the dead, and He lives and reigns from that higher realm that we cannot presently see, except by faith. He is able to deliver us from the wrath to come. The idols of our hearts and our hands cannot save us.

We have grace and peace from the Son of God who died for us, and from the Father who sent His Son to atone for our sins. When our grace and peace is seasoned with suffering, it is only so that the genuineness of our faith can be proven to be more than a proud flurry of empty words. If we live today in a place and time where believing and proclaiming the gospel of the cross-love of Christ will not put us in serious danger, it is ours to make the best use of this time of peace. But if it is our privilege to suffer the hatred of the enemies of the cross, let us do so as those who have come to see our wounds as a privilege, for the nail prints in the hands and feet of Another have secured our eternal redemption.