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2010-02-07 (am) 1 Thessalonians 2:16-3:5 Present Hope
When we were last looking at Thessalonians, the apostle Paul was explaining his absence from them.
He knew there were people who were disparaging his good name.
He knew that the pressures the Thessalonians were facing could tempt them to turn away from the truth.
What Paul was feeling was a bit like a parent whose child goes off to college.
You know what’s out there: partying, good friends and potentially bad friends.
Will he find a church?
Will he put into practise all the things I have been trying to hammer into his brain for the last 18 years?
So, before he leaves, you try to cram all the advice you can think of into the last minute.
Call me the moment you get there.
Call me if you’re lonely.
Call me if you’re having too much fun.
Go to church, read your Bible, pray, everyday.
Keep your room clean.
Do your laundry, here’s a notebook on how to do it.
And with many hugs and more tears, he leaves.
And, nothing.
No phone call.
The police haven’t called either, so you know he’s not in trouble or dead.
A week goes by.
Then another, a month, another month.
Finally, at the beginning of December, he calls.
Hi Mom! I’m coming home for Christmas, okay?
Bye!
Now, Paul said that he’s like a parent to the Thessalonians.
He’s both like a nursing mother and also like a loving father.
Though he was only there for a very short time, possibly only as long as 3 weeks, he cares deeply for this young congregation.
Paul knows what they are facing.
He knows the temptations they’ll experience.
Paul warned them before he left.
Okay, you’ve received the good news about Jesus.
You’ve seen the truth.
There isn’t many gods, there’s only one God in 3 persons.
God the Father created the world.
God the Son, Jesus saved the world by dying on the cross and rising from the dead.
God the Holy Spirit lives in you and convinces you of the truth.
Even though this is good news, even though this is the truth, even though this is reality, lots of people don’t want to hear it.
Lots of people are invested in the lies.
They are so invested that the cost of turning to the truth is too great for them.
They are going to ridicule you.
They are going to bully you.
They will economically sanction you to get you to turn back to the old way of life.
Satan will tempt you.
He will remind you of your old gods.
He will try to tell you that they are more effective than the God in heaven.
He will tell you that those gods will make things easier and better for you.
Your business will grow, you will prosper, you will have all the desires of your heart.
But don’t believe it for a second.
You’ve seen the one true God!
You know that he is greater than anything else on earth!
You know that he is totally satisfying.
You know this because you have been thirsty, you’ve been parched, you’ve lived in a spiritual desert and now you’ve been given living water.
You’re thirst has been quenched as with the coldest, most refreshing water!
You know that God’s mercy is unfathomable.
You can’t measure it.
You try, you let out the line, but the line runs out far before you get close to the bottom.
You can’t possibly imagine God’s amazing love and mercy.
From God you’ve received promise after promise.
No matter what you’ve done in the past, it will not be counted against you.
No matter what sin you might yet commit, you will be forgiven, because you stand before the righteous judge with Christ’s righteousness wrapped around you.
You are able to turn aside all temptation because you have given your hearts to God. Yes, you will struggle.
You will be faced with all kinds of challenges, but you are able to overcome them!
You have the Holy Spirit living in you! God has given you a new heart, a heart that pounds after Him!
You are full of new opportunities, so new and wonderful and great that even though the temptations are mighty and powerful, they pale in comparison to what you have in Christ.
Okay, it has been three weeks.
Don’t forget what I’ve told you.
Put it into practise.
Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
I’m going to have to remember that phrase, that’s a good one.
Let the light of Christ live in you and shine out of you.
You were once in the darkness, but just as God spoke and light appeared in the darkness, so God spoke and light appeared in the darkness of your hearts and you are new!
I have to go.
It is for your protection that I leave.
I will be back.
I will do what I can to help you.
I will write.
I might even send Timothy and Silas to be with you.
I care so deeply for you.
I wish I could stay, but I must go.
Be strong!
And so Paul left.
After way too short a time, he had to go.
But he can’t stop thinking about the little church in Thessalonica.
He’s concerned.
I wonder how Bob’s rheumatism is.
I wonder how Frank’s coping with his glaucoma.
I wonder how business is going for George.
I better pray that they will not waver in their faith in God.
I better pray that God will give them strength to face every challenge to their faith.
And so Paul prayed.
And he tried to go.
He would leave the city, only to be turned back.
He was frustrated.
The funds to travel weren’t there.
He couldn’t make it.
He had people in Athens who were listening to his message.
He had responsibilities there.
He longed to go, but couldn’t.
What parent wouldn’t want to go to the university to check up on their child?
Who wouldn’t wish to see how their child is doing?
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