Real Truth

Real Truth + Real Resistance = Real faith 1 Thessalonians 2:13-16 Cascades Fellowship CRC, JX MI June 22nd, 2003 Baptism of Joy Lanham When I was a senior in high school I was knocked out for the second time in my life. No I was not fighting – at least not with a person. I was fighting with a fence. I was in pursuit of a duck that needed to be put into shelter to keep it from freezing to death. I don’t know if you have ever seen a duck on snow, but they will flap their wings to get up to speed and then glide on their belly across the surface. I was getting fairly frustrated when the duck made an error – he glided himself into a briar patch and got hung up. There was an old wire fence between me and the duck. All I had to do was pull the fence down – in my anger I was not going to climb it, I wanted to destroy something – and the duck would be mine. The fence was old and decrepit, so I figured one good yank would break the post and bring it down. I latched on to the post and with a mighty pull snapped it, pushing the post to the ground. I swelled with pride over my feat of strength. The only way I could have felt more like the Hulk is if I had turned massive and green. But I forgot something – the wire. As I pushed the fence into the snow and started to step across it, the tension on the wire caused by being stretched down had what should have been a foreseeable effect. It snapped back… and up. Lennox Lewis could not have landed a better shot on my chin. In one smooth motion, my head snapped back and my body followed. I fell, spread-eagle, back into the snow and enjoyed about fifteen seconds of oblivion. 1

Cause and effect. A basic – possibly the basic – principle of physics. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Cause and effect. This basic principle has formed the foundation for countless scientific endeavors and discoveries. It has been the guiding principle that has driven nations to war. It is even one of the prime directives in economics – supply and demand, opportunity costs, investment are all based upon the idea that if one does such, so will happen. Cause and effect surrounds and infiltrates our every day life in the modern world – particularly in our utilitarian culture. We are always looking for the greatest effect from the slightest cause. Aristotle was really the first to formalize the impact of cause and effect on everyday life. It was he who gave us the notion of a First Cause – which at one time was en vogue for thinking theologically. God is the Uncaused Cause – the First Cause. A nice way of categorizing the immense, incomprehensible power and majesty of God, but a deficient theology. God is so much more than a cause – so much more personal, so much more involved. He does not simply cause and allow whatever effect. He works all things according to his purpose, for the good of those who love him. The relationship of cause and effect in God’s economy, however, was not lost on the apostle Paul.

In our passage this morning Paul explains a cause and effect

relationship inherent in the Christian life. Essentially, Paul says this, “Real Truth + Real Resistance = Real faith.” To get a closer look at this relationship we will first take account of the context in which Paul presents this relationship. Then we will talk more specifically about the factors that make up this relationship.

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When you look at the first letter to the Thessalonians you come away with the distinct feeling that Paul is REALLY thankful for the church. A couple of weeks ago we talked at some length about the purpose of the thanksgiving section in a letter. But in first Thessalonians he seems to carry the thanksgiving stuff to an extreme. Look at 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 the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe. You might also note that the passage we preached on last week for Father’s day – 1Thessaloninas 2:17-3:13, Paul continued his effusive thanksgiving in 3:8-9. What gives here – why is Paul so thankful? Well, remember also from last week that we talked about how Paul was run out of town by leaders of the local synagogue before his work in Thessalonica was finished. Looking at our overview of the Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians we see that in chapters 2 and 3 he is defending his ministry among them and assuring them of his love for them. It is in the context of this defense that Paul gives thanks two times for the faith of the Thessalonians. The reality is that Paul is indeed incredibly thankful that despite his interrupted ministry the Gospel had its desired effect – God’s Word had indeed not returned void. That is the context for the cause and effect relationship that Paul expresses through his thanksgiving in this passage. Now lets look more specifically at the factors involved in this relationship. The first factor is the Word of God – more specifically how the Word of God was received among the Thessalonians.

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Paul is quite clear here – the Word he preached was not accepted as the word of men, but for what it really was – the Word of God. Take a moment to let that seek in – the Word of God. We are not talking about the idle thoughts – however deep and moving – of a man concerning the nature of God. At the turn of the 19th Century it was all the rage among theologians and eventually the saints in the pews to consider the Bible as simply a collection of literature that expressed the evolution of the Christian faith from a philosophy of religion perspective. The idea that we could educate ourselves out of the barbarism of our past and evolve in ever ascending spirals was firmly rooted even in the academic discipline of theology. As a result, criticisms that focused on the history surrounding a passage, the forms or patterns for written expression used during the period it was actually written, the grammar and literature used in a passage became more important than the message of the Scriptures. A significant focus was placed on the human source of a passage of Scripture. In a very real sense, the Bible became less the Word of God and more a book about God – thoroughly human in its composition, and message. This mentality filtered into the church – right into the pews – the result being a devaluing of the Scriptures as the rule for faith and life and is still present with us even today. As a pastor and theologian, I have to work extremely hard at maintaining a high view of Scripture because I engage them daily from an academically disciplined point of view. It would be easy for me to treat the Scriptures simply as my field of academic endeavor.

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How about you? Most of us here this morning grew up with the Scriptures. They were read at our dinner table for devotions. We memorized them in Christian Schools. We have heard the Scriptures read every Sunday – for some twice a Sunday – and expounded on. We have heard it all before and quite frankly, the Scriptures have lost their luster. But think about it for a moment what we are talking about. The Word of God – his self- revelation to us so that we can know him. When sin cut us off from direct fellowship – from directly having his person revealed to us through his immediate presence – God gave us special revelation through the hearts, minds and fingers of his prophets so that we could know him! J.I. Packer, in his Concise Theology: A Guide to the Historic Christian Faith, says it this way [Christianity] is a religion that rests on revelation: nobody would know the truth about God, or be able to relate to him in a personal way, had not God first acted to make himself known.… God and godliness are the Bible’s uniting themes. From one standpoint, the Scriptures (Scriptures means “writings”) are the faithful testimony of the godly to the God whom they loved and served; from another standpoint, through a unique exercise of divine overruling in their composition, they are God’s own testimony and teaching in human form. The church calls these writings the Word of God because their authorship and contents are both divine… What Scripture says, God says; for, in a manner comparable only to the deeper mystery of the Incarnation, the Bible is both fully human and fully divine. So all its manifold contents —histories, prophecies, poems, songs, wisdom writings, sermons, statistics, letters, and whatever else—should be received as from God, and all that Bible writers teach should be revered as God’s authoritative instruction. Christians should be grateful to God for the gift of his written Word, and conscientious in basing their faith and life entirely and exclusively upon it. Otherwise, we cannot ever honor or please him as he calls us to do. The Scriptures should be received for what they really are – the Word of God received from God. Think about that. Every time you run your eyes across these blobs of ink, you 5

are reading God’s revelation to you – his baring himself to you. And if we receive the Scriptures this way, his Word is not void in our life but has does its work in the one that receives the Word. What is this work? They say that as married couples live together they come to resemble one another. They appropriate each others expressions, postures and gestures and because of these non-verbals that are gained through a type of relational osmosis, they literally begin to be perceived as looking alike. I have heard that the same is true of people and their pets. As an owner of three cats, I sincerely hope this is not true. As much as I dislike how the cats shed, I would despise it even more in me. But the point is that as we live together – in close proximity to each other, interacting morning, noon and night – we begin this often unconscious imitation of one another. We begin to act, look and speak alike. In ways we never thought about, we become a living manifestation of the biblical principle of “one-flesh” in marriage. And our kids follow suit. Hence, the often fulfilled curse spoken near universally by mothers everywhere – “I hope you have one just like you.” When we engage the Word of God for what it is – the Word of God, his selfrevealing to us – it begins to shape us much like living with our spouse does. We begin to imitate the God we are in relationship with. Did you miss that? Just in case let me point out what is implicitly said there. To have a relationship with God you must engage his Word – his self-revealing. That is the primary means he has given us for carrying on a conversation with him and we all know the importance of communication in any relationship. 6

So, the first cause and effect relationship that Paul details for us is this: when we receive the Word of God for what it really is (that’s our cause), the effect is that we are changed – we begin to imitate the God, to imitate his character really, not his power or majesty, that we are in relationship with. Now just a note to sort of tie our theology together. As we become imitators of God by engaging him through his Word, we then begin to do the very thing we were created for – to image him. Remember we were created in the image of God – to be mirrors of his majesty and glory as reflected through his character. As we take on more of the character of God by being in relationship to him we then fulfill our purpose. We image or mirror God’s glory throughout the earth. Now what is the effect of mirroring God’s image throughout a world fallen and tainted by sin? Look at v.14-15 of our text. For you, brothers, became imitators of God’s churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus: You suffered from your own countrymen the same things those churches suffered from the Jews, who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to all men. In these verses Paul draws what is both a profound and disturbing cause and effect relationship. Now before I get too far, let me clarify something about this text. Throughout history, many have pointed to this passage as a justification for anti-semitism. But they make an error in interpretation to do it. When Paul speaks about those who displease God and are hostile to men – he is not speaking about the Jews in particular. If you look at the context it becomes readily

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apparent that Paul is referring to any who hinder the Gospel through persecution. Yes, he refers to the Jews who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, but there he is speaking about a specific group of Jews – ones who persecuted those who brought God’s message of grace. Who sought to secure their own religious and political power rather than receive God’s Word of Grace. In other words, those Jews who hindered God’s Word through violence and deceit – like the Jews from the Synagogue in Thessalonica who ran Paul and his friends out of town. But notice the correlation Paul makes to becoming imitators of God and persecution. Cause and effect. Because the Thessalonians had embraced the Gospel and had begun to have their lives shaped and changed by its truth, they came under persecution. Most of this persecution came in the form of religious and social prejudice. As believers in the One True God, the Thessalonians began to refuse engagement in the religious and social activity of the culture they were in. Remember that at the time there was not the separation of church and state. To be engaged socially, one had to belong to the religious culture of a city – which meant pagan worship. The members of the Thessalonian church began to abstain from the feasts and rites associated with pagan worship and the worship of the emperor that marked a person as a member of society. So in a very real sense they became outcasts. Life became hard for them in Thessalonica. Part of the belief of the day was that the health and wealth of the city depended upon the pleasure of the gods. So when calamity came upon the city, who was to blame? Well, those dunder head Christians, of course. Their refusal to honor the gods were bringing the wrath of the gods against the city. 8

Is it so much different today? Let me assure you that it isn’t. When we refuse to bow at the altar of celebrity, materialism, or status people are going to take notice and resent us for it. Remember, the darkness hates the light, so anytime light penetrates the darkness, darkness will resist. When we expose darkness – the coworker who steals from the company, the family member who cheats on his spouse, the boss who overcharges for our labor – the darkness responds in shame and fear. Those who walk in darkness will turn against you – not because tattled on them, but because you disturbed their darkness and confronted them with truth. When as a church we confront abortion, pornography, racism, homosexuality with the truth, we will be derided as narrow-minded bigots. When we begin to imitate God – to take on his character and mirror his glory – the world will resist us. When Jesus was speaking to his disciples about the signs of the end times in Luke 21, he said this to them in v.12-13 “But before all this, they will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. This will result in your being witnesses to them.” If you live in obedience to God, if you engage his Word and take on his character you can be sure that one effect will be persecution of some sort. But Jesus also said, “Blessed is he who is persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” But there is another effect of imitating God. In the Reformed theology we refer to it as the effectual calling of the saints. As we take on God’s character and heart, we begin 9

to reflect his grace – become a channel of grace to others. Some will reject us – in reality reject God as he reaches out through us – but some will find in our imitation of God that which is incredibly winsome, the effect being their salvation. And most significantly on this day, when we celebrate the baptism of Joy, our being conformed to the image of Christ becomes a witness in the lives of our children who are baptized into covenant with Christ. Our lives – our relationship with God that shapes us to reflect his character – becomes a primary instrument through which the effectual calling goes out to our children. Can their be any greater privilege, any sweeter reward than to know that our relationship with Jesus Christ became an instrument in the salvation of our children? Cause and effect – it infiltrates every part of our lives. Brothers and sisters in Christ, what effect is the Word of God having in your life? Are you engaged in his Word – engaged in relationship with him? Are you being changed, conformed to the image of Christ and contrary to the world? Is or can you even conceive of your life being used for the effectual calling of your children, of friends, of neighbors? Immerse yourself in a conversation with God. Accept his Word for what it is – God’s Word, God’s selfrevealing so that we can be in relationship to him. As you begin to take on his character, watch the effect your faith has on the world around you.

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