Purpose: To discern how steadfastness and resolve during trying times bringing glory to Christ.
Scripture: 2 Thessalonians 1
What can we do to keep our faith growing?
What times or events in your life have been most trying?
“These are the times that try men’s souls” Those immortal words are from the opening line of the essay The Crisis written by Thomas Paine on December 23, 1776. The essay was so inspiring to General Washington that he ordered it read to the troops at
War is a trying time. Especially for the warriors and their families. The winter of 1777 at
Early into the six-month encampment, there was hunger, disease, and despair. Raw weather stung and numbed the soldiers. The images are heartrending, dramatic and so powerful that they are embedded in the nation's historical consciousness: Bloody footprints in the snow left by bootless men. Near naked soldiers wrapped in thin blankets huddled around a smoky fire of green wood. The plaintive chant from the starving: "We want meat! We want meat!"
The future promised only more desperation and starvation.
Some couldn't take the cold, hunger, and uncertainty any longer. There were numerous desertions. Disease debilitated. Death descended in droves.
No battle was fought at
What happened?
On June 19, 1778, exactly six months after they Americans arrived, a new army anxious to fight the British streamed out of Valley Forge toward
At
“These are the times that try men’s souls.”
But war is not the only time or circumstance that can try one’s soul.
Everyone has a story. Everyone has or will at some time encounter trying times – difficult, discouraging, challenging times.
Sudden illness. Don’t even get me started on that one…..
Chronic illness.
The death of a loved one.
With illness we have to deal not only with the physical issues but also the emotional.
And many illnesses are not resolved quickly. There could be years of pain and discomfort.
If the death of a loved one is sudden and unexpected the shock could be devastating and could linger for years. Even if the death is expected, there could still be long periods of grieving.
Coping with illness and surviving the death of a loved one are some of the most trying times that we will ever face in life. There are also other trials, both great and small, that confront us. Each of us knows what tries our soul.
How can a person go through trials and yet have their faith strengthened?
The believers in Thessalonica were living in a time of trial. The two letters of Paul to the Thessalonians do not detail the nature of the persecutions. Paul does let us know that the Thessalonians were suffering from “afflictions”. This does not tell us whether the suffering was physical or emotional or both. And it really doesn’t matter as to the exact nature of the suffering. Only that the suffering was a result of their Christian faith.
What they need in their trying times was the strength to survive the trials. They needed steadfastness of faith and resolve of will. According to Paul, the Thessalonian believers possessed a great measure of both.
We need steadfastness and resolve during our trying times as well.
This lesson can help us discern how these qualities of character bring glory to God.
We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.
(2Th 1:3 NRSV)
Everybody pick one of Paul’s letters and turn to the first chapter of it. Read the first few verses.
Here are a few examples:
To all God's beloved in
(Rom 1:7-8 NRSV)
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind--
(1Co 1:3-5 NRSV)
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you,
(Php 1:2-4 NRSV)
To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in
(
What do we learn about Paul from the greetings of his epistles?
All if Paul’s letters contain a “thanksgiving” section immediately after the initial “greeting”. Even when the purpose of one of Paul’s letters was to scold the church, he began most of his letters by stating what he most appreciated about his readers and the joy he felt because of their faith in God. We also should look for ways to encourage and build up other believers.
Therefore we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith during all your persecutions and the afflictions that you are enduring.
(2Th 1:4 NRSV)
What was the first of three specific things that Paul was thankful for in the case of the Thessalonians?
First, he was thankful that their “faith is growing abundantly”.
What was the cause of their abundant growth in faith?
Apparently and ironically, it seems as if the trials they were facing was the cause of this abundant growth in faith.
Do we usually view our trials as a positive thing?
We usually go to great lengths to avoid the pain and suffering of trials.
How can our trials become an opportunity for our faith to grow?
Henry Ward Beecher a prominent preacher of the 19th century said, “We are always on the anvil; by trials God is shaping us for higher things.”
Think about that: faith is strengthened on the anvil of trials.
Have any of you ever watched a blacksmith at his forge?
Rough pieces of red hot iron can be shaped into many useful items by hammering on an anvil. The working surface of the iron is actually strengthened by the heating, hammering, and cooling process. This process is called annealing.
How can our faith be annealed by suffering?
What happens is that suffering gives us an opportunity to exercise our faith and trust in God. During times of trial, we tend to turn to God for empowerment and help. Every time we turn to God we strengthen that relationship.
It is the mark of developing Christians that they grow surer of Jesus Christ every day. Faith begins as theoretical and ends as a certainty. The thrill of Christian experience progresses to the discipline of Christian thought and action.
What was Paul’s second reason for thanksgiving?
Love.
The love that each of the Thessalonians had for the others was increasing.
What was the cause of the increasing love?
The answer is the same: because of persecutions and afflicitions.
How is it that suffering can increase love?
When we suffer together, there is a feeling that “we’re in this together.” Suffering common trials can draw us closer together and bring out a deeper compassion for each other. The word compassion literally means “to suffer with.”
If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; (1Co 12:26 NRSV)
I can speak to this issue also. Because of our recent trials there are people, quite a few in fact, whom I have a whole new opinion of. Not that I necessarily had bad opinions before, but folks with whom I had a casual relationship at best, I now think of as family. And family is much more family than ever before.
What is one sure mark of a healthy church?
A healthy church, grows greater in love. And that love shows itself in service. Christians begin serving others out of a sense of duty which their faith puts on them. They will eventually come to the point where serving others gives them their greatest joy. The life of service opens up the great discovery that unselfishness and joy go hand in hand.
What was the third reason Paul gave for thanksgiving?
The Thessalonians “steadfastness” in enduring persecutions and afflictions. Not only was Paul thankful for this but he boasted, like a parent proud of a child’s accomplishments.
The word Paul used (hupomone) is usually translated as steadfastness or endurance is defined as “constancy which endures”. This hupomone does not mean the ability to passively bear whatever trials may befall us but to actively overcome our trials. It accepts the blows of life but in accepting them transforms them into stepping stones to new achievement.
How do you think Paul could see the Thessalonians’ faith growing?
How did he know?
What is the evidence of a life of more and more faith?
Paul called the Thessalonians faith “growing abundantly”. Other translations say “flourishing” or “groweth exceedingly”. Paul could see that their faith was flourishing and that they were all growing in love for each other. Paul chose colorful words to describe this growth. The word translated "flourishing" (hyperauxenei) is used only here in the New Testament and speaks of the type of growth a healthy plant makes. The picture is of internal growth, like that of an oak tree. The word translated "growing" (pleonazei) is also a strong verb picturing something that spreads out or disperses widely—like floodwaters. The Thessalonians' internal faith was flourishing like a healthy plant; their external love was spreading out to many.
How do we grow our faith? What is the fertilizer for faith?
We have to go to God. Prayer, worship, Bible study, works of piety and works of compassion: all are the fertilizer of faith.
When we are going through difficulties, how do we know God hasn’t forgotten us?
What are some reasons we use to explain why we experience trials and hard times?
How could trials and hard times be part of God’s plan for us?
This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, and is intended to make you worthy of the
(2Th 1:5-10 NRSV)
When someone we love is hurt, what is the natural human response?
We want vengeance. We demand justice. Retribution.
Can our desire for justice cross over into vindictiveness?
Easily.
What is the difference between our idea of justice and God’s idea of justice?
God’s idea of justice:
But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile.
(Mat 5:39-41 NRSV)
"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
(Mat 5:43-44 NRSV)
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
(Mat 6:14-15 NRSV)
"Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get.
(Mat 7:1-2 NRSV)
Is Paul’s view of justice consistent with Jesus’ teachings?
Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord."
(Rom 12:17-19 NRSV)
Paul’s view of justice was in perfect alignment with Jesus’ teachings. In Paul’s view vengeance is always best left to God. God will not act out of vindictiveness but out of loving justice.
Paul was always clear that God is the judge of right and wrong and will hold all (even saved Christians) accountable.
One way to view divine justice is to see it in terms of natural consequences. Those who persecuted the Thessalonians would get what they deserved because they brought it on themselves.
What consequences would be the natural result of the persecutors of the Thessalonian church (and all sinners)?
They cut themselves off from their fellow human beings, harming the unity of their community.
They separate themselves from a life-giving relationship with God.
Paul believed that this alienation from God would continue beyond physical death.
How does grace and forgiveness fit into this picture of justice?
If accountability and consequences are one side of divine justice, then forgiveness is the other. Forgiveness is offered to all, even those who persecute Christians. Remember Paul began as a persecutor.
What did God’s forgiveness do for Paul?
It transformed him into the greatest missionary Christianity has ever known.
Do you agree or disagree with Paul’s portrayal of divine justice?
To this end we always pray for you, asking that our God will make you worthy of his call and will fulfill by his power every good resolve and work of faith, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
(2Th 1:11-12 NRSV)
Our sufferings and difficulties can be easier to endure when we know there is a purpose or reason for them.
What reason did Paul give the Thessalonians for their suffering?
They were glorifying God by their steadfastness in the face of diversity.
How would it make you feel to hear this prayer of Paul in your time of suffering?
Lord, whenever things do not turn out the way we anticipate, help us not to become discouraged and fail to trust you. Give us the strength and determination to remain faithful to you regardless of the circumstances or the consequences. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen
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