'You are our glory and joy'
[1 Thessalonians 2:13-20]
What should we do if we love someone? If we love someone, don’t you think we are going to think about him/her? Not only that, we will concern about him/her and will try to figure out his/her mind. And we will pray to God, remembering our beloved one. And we will sincerely confess that we love him/her.
Apostle Paul confessed his love to the Thessalonian church saints: “… you had become very dear to us” (1 Thess. 2:8). Based on this word and 1 Thessalonians 2:7-12, we already meditated about how Paul loved them. He loved them five ways: (1) Paul was gentle among them like a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children (v. 7). (2) Paul was delighted to share with them not only the gospel of God but his life as well (v. 8). (3) Paul worked night and day in order not to be burden to them while he preached the gospel of God to them (v. 9). (4) Paul lived holy, righteous and blameless life while he was among them (v. 10). (5) Paul encouraged, comforted and urged them like a father who deals with his own children (v. 11).
Today I would like to meditate on 1 Thessalonians 2:13-20 under the heading “You are our glory and joy”. Look at verses 19-20: “For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? For you are our glory and joy.” What do we eagerly expect and hope for? It is the second coming of Jesus. In other words, what we should eagerly anticipate and desire is the coming of the Lord Jesus. This is what the Lord Jesus clearly said in Revelation 22:20 – “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Apostle John who heard this responded, "Amen Come, Lord Jesus". This should be our response. We, like Apostle John, must hear the words of the Lord, "I am coming quickly," and respond faithfully, "Amen, Lord Jesus, come." In order for us to respond in this way, we must always live a life of preparation for the coming of the Lord Jesus, believing that the Lord Jesus is coming again for sure.
How should we prepare for the second coming of the Lord Jesus? There are four things we can think of:
First, we must listen carefully to the lesson of the Word of the “The Parable of the Ten Virgins” in Matthew 25: 1-13.
Among the ten virgins, five of them were foolish so they went out to meet the bridegroom with only their lamps. And the rest of the five were wise so, not only they took oil in jars along with their lamps (Mt. 25:1-4). “The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep” (v. 5). “At midnight the cry rang out: 'Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!' Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps” (vv. 6-7). At that time, the five foolish virgins who didn’t prepare the oil asked the wise virgins to share their oil because their lamps were going out (v. 8). The five wise virgins who heard them saying told the five foolish virgins: “No … there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves” (v. 9). But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom came, and the wise virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet, and the door was shut (v. 10). After the door was shut, the foolish virgins came and said, ‘Sir! Sir! Open the door for us!’ (v. 11). But the bridegroom said, “I tell you the truth, I don't know you” (v. 12). Jesus, who said this parable, conclusively said: “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour” (v. 13). What do you think the lesson of this parable tells us? The lesson is that we all should be awake because we don’t know when the the Lord Jesus is coming.
Second, we who prepare for the second coming of the Lord Jesus must be sober and fully armed with faith, love and hope of salvation.
Look at 1 Thessalonians 5:8 – “But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.” We must know that the Lord's day comes like a thief in the night (v. 2). And we must know that the Lord suddenly comes when people say “Peace and safety!” (v. 3). Therefore, we should not sleep as others do, but we must be alert and sober (v. 6). We must be sober and fully armed with faith, love and ope of salvation (v. 8). We who are preparing for the coming of the Lord Jesus must stand firm in our faith. We must stand firm in our faith so whatever temptations or tribulations come, we must not be shaken. In addition, we must love God and love our neighbors by obeying the twofold command of Jesus. This is our breastplate (now a bulletproof vest) that protects us from Satan's attacks. And we must wear "a helmet, the hope of salvation" (v. 8). How important is the helmet that protects our head in the war? That helmet is the hope of salvation. This reminds me Jonah 2:9 – “… Salvation comes from the LORD.” The Lord is our hope of salvation. We must be sober and awake in faith in Him who is the hope of our salvation. And we must obey the Lord’s word by loving God and loving our neighbors.
Third, we who prepare for the second coming of the Lord Jesus must be self-controlled and alert and pray to God.
Look at 1 Peter 5:8 – “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” Look at Matthew 26:41 – “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” Jesus went to Gethsemane the night before he was crucified and prayed (v. 36). And “Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Sit here while I pray.’ He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,’ he said to them. ‘Stay here and keep watch’” (Mk. 14:32-34). And Jesus went a little further, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him (v. 35): “Abba, Father, … everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will” (v. 36). “Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. ‘Simon,’ he said to Peter, ‘are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak’” (vv. 37-38). We who are preparing for the second coming of Jesus must know that our enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Pet. 5:8). The devil is trying very hard to make us abandon our faith and leave the Lord and leave the church. We who are engaging in this spiritual war must be awake and prayed so that we may not be tempted by the devil.
Fourth and last, we who prepare for the second coming of the Lord Jesus must always give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord.
Look at 1 Corinthians 15:58 – “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” We who are preparing for the second coming of the Lord Jesus should always give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord with the resurrection faith even in any tribulation and persecution. The reason is that our labor in the Lord isn’t in vain.
Then what is the Lord's work that we should always strive to do? It is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. Before when I had Morning Prayer, I meditated on the book of Mark with its similar passages from Mark 8:35 and 10:29-30 and I learned about how we should live for Jesus as His disciples. Look at Mark 8:35 – “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.” Look at Mark 10:29-30: “I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields--and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.” As I was meditating on these two verses, Jesus taught me that I should give up my life, my family and whatever I have for the sake of Jesus and His gospel. In other words, it is not my life, my family, or my possession that I have to put in the top priority but Jesus and His gospel. This was the mission of Apostle Paul. Look at Acts 20:24 – “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.” Paul considered his life worthy nothing to him in completing the task the Lord Jesus gave him. So as he wrote a letter to the Thessalonian church saints, he said in 1 Thessalonians 2:2 – “but after we had already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition.” Paul who had been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel (v. 4) had suffered and had been mistreated in Philippi and came to Thessalonica and boldly spoke the gospel of God to the Thessalonians amid much opposition (v. 2). When he did so, the gospel came to them not in word only but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction (1:5). As a result, the Thessalonians left their idols and turned to God to serve the living and true God (v. 9). Not only that, they waited for the Son of God from heaven, whom God raised from the dead (v. 10). And they became imitators of Paul, his co-workers and of the Lord, “having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit” (v. 6). So the Thessalonians became the example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia (v. 7). Not only did the words of the Lord sound forth from them, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place their faith toward God had gone forth (v. 8).
So Apostle Paul always thanked God and prayed for the Thessalonian church saints (1:2). He couldn’t but give thanks to God when he remembered their work of faith, labor of love and steadfastness of hope in the Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of God and Father (v. 3). In particular, in 1 Thessalonians 2:13-20, Paul constantly thanked God that when the Thessalonian church saints received the word of God, they accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God (2:13). When you receive the word of God through a pastor like me, do you receive it as the word of God or as the words of man? Of course, when I preach, I don’t speak 100% God's Word. But at least when I quoted the Bible verses and said the word of God, do you receive it as the word of God? In June, 2016, I meditated on Jeremiah 23:16 under the heading ‘We should not listen to the words from this kind of pastor’. The Bible says: “This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD.”
First, I want to meditate on what kind of pastor we shouldn’t listen to:
(1) We shouldn’t listen to the words of the pastor who hurts and scatters the congregation.
Look at Jeremiah 23:1 – “Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!" declares the LORD.” How did the Israel shepherds hurt and scattered the God’s flocks of his pasture? They didn’t attend to the God’s people but did evil (v. 2). Even now, there are pastors who don’t look after God's people but do evil. They take care of themselves rather than caring for the church members (Ezek. 34:2). They are busy feeding their stomach. They don’t strengthen the weak members, heal the sick or bind up the injured, don’t bring back the strays or search for the lost (v. 4). But they are “butting all the weak sheep with your (their) horns until you (they) have driven them away” (v. 21). So the congregations are hurt by those pastors, and eventually they leave the church and are scattered all over the place. We must not listen to these pastors’ words.
(2) We shouldn’t listen to the words of the pastor who do an offensive and horrible thing.
Look at Jeremiah 23:13-14: “Moreover, among the prophets of Samaria I saw an offensive thing: They prophesied by Baal and led My people Israel astray. Also among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: The committing of adultery and walking in falsehood; And they strengthen the hands of evildoers, So that no one has turned back from his wickedness All of them have become to Me like Sodom, And her inhabitants like Gomorrah.” The prophets of the northern Israel were foolish. They relied on Baal instead of God and prophesied, making God’s people Israel going astray. How foolish they were. Then how about the prophets of the southern Judah? They did horrible thing. They committed adultery. The land was full of adulterers (v. 10) and the prophets too (v. 14). They lived a life and strengthened the hands of evildoers, so that no one turned from his wickedness (v. 14). What a detestable thing. There are still a lot of pastors doing this abominable thing now. They preach and give the church members false comfort and encouragement so that the church members go out into the world, forsake God's word, and sin against God boldly. They don’t preach about sins and repentance. Rather, they are reinforcing the church members to go out into the world and boldly commit sins against God. Also many pastors are guilty of adultery. They are doing abominable things in the sight of God. In addition, many pastors rely on money rather than on God. And they are making a lot of people wrong because they rely on money and preach vain blessings or preach sermons about money. They are foolish in the sight of God. Don’t listen to the words of these pastors who are doing these foolish and abominable things.
(3) We shouldn’t listen to the word of the pastor who speaks a lie.
Look at Jeremiah 23:25-26: “I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies in my name. They say, 'I had a dream! I had a dream!' How long will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who prophesy the delusions of their own minds?” The prophets who prophesied lies in the name of God said “I had a dream! I had a dream!” (v. 25) They told the people false dreams and led them astray with their reckless lies (v. 32). As a result, the false prophets tried to make the Israelites to forget God (v. 27). The false prophets who prophesied lies in the name of God tried to cause the people of God to forget the name of God (v. 27). There are still pastors who make false prophecy in the name of Jesus. They said that they have received the gift of prophecy and prophesied to the members of the church. Some of them just talk about their dreams. They speak as though their dreams came from God. They are telling their dreams to be equivalent to the Word of God. They speak their dream that isn’t from the Bible at all, and make a false prophecy to the congregation as if it were equivalent to the Word of God. What is surprising and strange, however, is that there are some church members who find their prophecies that they are right. And there are also some members who want to receive blessing prayer from those pastors. We must not listen to the words of the pastors who speak a lie.
(4) We shouldn’t listen to the words of the pastor who steals the word of God.
Look at Jeremiah 23:30 – “Therefore," declares the LORD, "I am against the prophets who steal from one another words supposedly from me.” The false prophets stole the word of God. God spoke to the true prophet whom He had raised and commanded him to speak His words to the Israelites. But the false prophets, whom God didn’t speak and raised, prophesied their own lies. As they stole the word of God, they prophesied falsely to the Israelites, the delusions of their mind (v.26). Out of their hearts came theft (Mt. 15:19) so they stole the word of God and prophesied lies to the Israelites. Then the Israelites shouldn’t have listened to their words. We must not listen to the words of the pastor who steals the Word of God. We shouldn’t listen to the words of the pastor who steals the finances of God, but also we shouldn’t listen to the pastor who steals the word of God. We shouldn’t listen to the pastor who steals other pastor’s sermons as well.
Second and the last, what kind of pastor we should listen to:
It is the pastor who receives the word of God and speaks the word of God faithfully.
Look at Jeremiah 23:28-29: “Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?" declares the LORD. ‘Is not my word like fire," declares the LORD,’ and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?” Out of many false prophets, Jeremiah was a true prophet. Before God formed him in the womb God knew him and set him apart. And God appointed Jeremiah as a prophet to the nations (1:5). God said to him, “Do not say, 'I am only a child.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you” (v. 7). The prophet Jeremiah obeyed this word of God. He received the word of God. And he spoke the word of God to the Israelites faithfully. He spoke the word of God boldly by believing its power. The power of the Word is that God's Word is like a fire and a hammer (v. 29). We must receive the words of the pastor who has received the word of God and has proclaimed to us faithfully. When we receive the word of God through the servant of God, as in the Thessalonian church saints, we must receive it humbly, not as the word of man but as the word of God (1 Thess. 2:13). Then the word of God will be at work in us who believe (v. 13). And the work of God’s word is that our hearts will be burning within us (Lk. 24:32). As a result, our cold heart will melt down. Also, the power of God's Word is that it will break our hardened hearts. No matter how hard or stubborn we are, the word of God, like the hammer, can break our hearts thoroughly. As we trust this power of the word of God and look upon Him, we should hear the words of the pastor who receives the word of God and speaks to us faithfully.
Apostle Paul thanked God continually because , then the Thessalonian church saints received the word of God, which they heard from Paul, they accepted it not as the word of men, but as the word of God (1 Thess. 2:13). Not only that, but Paul thanked God continually for knowing that the word of God was at work in them who believed (v. 13). Here, what does it mean that the word of God worked in the Thessalonian church saints? Look at 1 Thessalonians 2:14 – “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.” The Thessalonian church saints who not only received the word of God but also believed in it became imitators of God’s churches in Judea (v. 14). That means that the Thessalonian church saints suffered also by their own countrymen, just as the God’s churches in Judea suffered by the Jews (v. 14). In other words, the reason why Paul thanked God was because they endured the suffering they received from their own countrymen the same things those churches suffered from the Jews (v. 14, Park). What was the suffering they endured? In other words, what what the suffering the Thessalonian church saints suffer? It was “the same things those churches suffered from the Jews” (v. 14). Then what kind of persecution did the God’s churches saints in Judea received? Look at 1 Thessalonians 2:15-16: “who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to all men in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit. The wrath of God has come upon them at last.” The suffering that the God’s churches saints in Judea received was first of all the Jews killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets (v. 15). Moreover, the Jews persecuted not only Paul and his co-workers but all other apostles as well (Park). Because the Jews drove them out (v. 15), Paul and his co-workers went to the Gentiles to preach the gospel to them for salvation (v. 16). But the Jews prevented Paul and his coworkers from preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles for salvation (v.16). As a result, the wrath of God had come upon the Jews at last who always heaped up their sins to the limit (v. 16).
To the Thessalonian church saints who suffered by the Jews, Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 2:17, ” But, brothers, when we were torn away from you for a short time (in person, not in thought), out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you.” What would your heart be like if you find that you are far away from your beloved family and that your beloved family is suffering from disease? If you stand in the position of Paul, what do you think will happen to you when you think of the family of the Thessalonian church saints who were suffering? Wouldn’t you try your best to see your beloved family? Apostle Paul was like that. He made every effort to see them (v. 17). The reason is because Paul loved them so much that he was delighted to share with them his life as well (v. 8). However, Paul came to know that the Thessalonian church saints whom he loved were suffering from their own countrymen because of Jesus and His gospel. So he wrote to them: “But, brothers, when we were torn away from you for a short time (in person, not in thought), out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you” (v. 17). Although Paul's body was away from the beloved Thessalonica, but his heart didn’t leave them. His heart was always with them. And it seems that Paul had tried very hard to see them again. Actually, Paul tried to go to them “again and again” (v. 18). But Satan stopped him (v. 18). We don’t know how Satan stopped Paul from going to Thessalonica. But here we need to think about one thing. We need to distinguish between Satan’s blocking from the Holy Spirit’s blocking.
First, a good example that the Holy Spirit’s blocking can be found in Acts 16. When Paul and his co-workers tried to go to Asia to preach the word, they were “forbidden by the Holy Spirit” (v. 6). So “after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them” (v. 7). The Holy Spirit stopped Paul and his co-workers twice in going to Asia. Why did the Holy Spirit block their way? And in 1 Thessalonians 2:18, Satan stopped Paul from going to Thessalonica. Althought Paul tried to go to Thessalonica because the Thessalonian church saints who he dearly loved were suffering, Satan stopped him from doing so. What was Satan's purpose here? Why did Satan stop Paul from going to Thessalonica? Isn’t this even done in the sovereignty of God because without God's permission Satan couldn’t stop Paul from going to Thessalonica (cf. Job 1-2). How can we distinguish between the Holy Spirit's blocking and Satan's blocking? For example, how do we know whether it is the Holy Spirit who is blocking or Satan is blocking when we try to preach the gospel diligently for the glory of God with plan and prayer but it didn’t go as we planned? I think it is a very difficult question. Although it is not easy for us to distinguish between the Holy Spirit's blocking and Satan's blocking, one thing that is clear is that there are two distinct purposes for those two kinds of blocking. What are those two distinct purposes? In Acts 16, the Holy Spirit blocked Paul from going into Asia because God’s priority for him and his co-workers to preach was Macedonia (Philippians, Thessalonica). But in 1 Thessalonians 2:18, Satan prevented Paul from going to the Thessalonica to see the Thessalonian church saints was so that Paul couldn’t preach the gospel to them. I think Satan blocked Paul from going to the Thessalonica to preach the gospel to them, so that the Thessalonian church saints would not be comforted in their suffering. And if they couldn’t get comfort, then they would be discouraged and would not be able to endure persecution and suffering and would depart from their faith. As I was meditating on this, it reminded me Luke 8:12 – “Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.” When I meditated on this word, I thought that perhaps Satan prevented Paul from going to Thessalonica so that the Thessalonians wouldn’t believe in Jesus and be saved. The way Satan used to accomplish that purpose was to take the word out of their hearts (v. 12). In other words, Satan prevented Paul from going to Thessalonica so that Paul couldn’t preach the word of God to the Thessalonian church saints. Not only that, I think Satan would have made the Thessalonian church saints who had heard the word to be chocked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures so they they couldn’t mature (v. 14). I also think that Satan’s intention of blocking Paul from going to Thessalonica was to make the Thessalonian church saints to fall away from the Lord (Lk. 8:13) in their suffering (1 Thess. 2:14).
Apostle Paul really sought to go to the Thessalonian Church saints because he saw them spiritually honorable (Park). Look at 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20: “For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy.” What does it mean? For Paul, the Thessalonian church saints were hope, joy and crown of glory. When the Lord Jesus comes back, Paul’s hope, joy, crown and glory were the Thessalonian church saints who heard the gospel of Jesus Christ from Paul and believed in Jesus Christ by God’s grace and fought the good fight of faith to the end and kept the faith. The same is true of the Philippian church saints. Look at Philippians 4:1 – “Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!” The same is true of the Corinthian church saints. Look at 2 Corinthians 1:14 – “as you have understood us in part, you will come to understand fully that you can boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of the Lord Jesus.”
When the Lord comes back to this earth, what can we offer to Him? Isn’t it each soul, the fruit of the gospel, whom we have reached out and preached the gospel? Isn’t it those souls whom we have loved and served with the affection of Christ Jesus? Isn’t it all those people who we have labored not in vain (Phil. 2:16)? I think they are the fruits whom we can offer to the Lord when He comes back again. They are our hope, joy, crown and glory. I hope and pray that we can be filled with glory and joy in front of the Lord.