MPC 6th March 2005.March 6 - 2 Thessalonians 3:1-5 "Life in the Light of the End"
Garnet Swann MPC 6th March 2005.
Lieutenant Hiroo Onodo was a Japanese soldier who fought in WW2. During the war he was sent to a small tropical Island in the Philippines. Nothing unusual about that. But what is unusual is that he finally surrendered himself in 1974. That is, for nearly 30 years he believed the war was still going on. There he was - hiding out in the jungle with his rifle, every now and then taking pot shots at the local fishermen. They could only convince him that the war was over after they flew out his old superior officer - to hand deliver the surrender orders to him. An amazing story really!
Now my point in telling you this, is that we all live according to the times that we understand ourselves to be in. Poor Hiroo understood that the war was still on, so he acted accordingly. Now he was badly mistaken. But for you and I - the way we understand the world around us - impacts how we live.
Let me give you some examples. You might understand the time that we live in to be the age of near environmental collapse. So you work hard to make a difference in how you dispose of waste and you give some money to an environmental group. Or you might understand this to be the age of harsh competition for jobs. So you work hard at uni to get the best results. Or you might understand the time we live in to be the age of rapid technological change. So that might make you feel depressed about your out-of-date two year computer and so you want a new one.
Now they're all perspectives on the world that we live in and how we understand the world will affect how we live. But one thing the letter of 2 Thessalonians does for us - is that it shows us that ultimately, most importantly - we live in the age when we await Christ's return. Awaiting Jesus Christ's return and judgment to come is the reality and perspective on life that the bible gives us, and this should impact the way that we live.
What we're going to see in our passage today is that, in understanding the time that we live in should impact the way we pray and impact where we place our confidence.
The first thing we see in this passage, is that Paul asks for prayer for the message of Jesus to progress. It's there in verse 1: Finally, brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you.
Now the word 'finally' tells us Paul is winding down in this letter. He's on the home stretch. It's always nice to hear a preacher say 'finally' in his sermon, isn't it?! And in this final section he asks them to pray - that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored.
Now can you sense of urgency in what he says here? - that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honoured.
Paul obviously understands the time that he lives in. As we've seen - Christ is coming again - to bring relief to his people, but retribution to his enemies. Christ will come and destroy the evil one.
See, this world will not go on indefinitely. The world is not like a CD where you can put it on repeat and it goes on and on and on. The world is like a video tape in which once it runs out of tape - it ends. While there's still time before Christ's return, Paul wants this message of Jesus to spread quickly.
Literally, it says in the passage - he asks for prayer that the message of the Lord may run. What a fantastic phrase - that the message may run. It reminds me of when the Olympic Games came to Sydney and that flame came all the way from Greece. Men and women with torches were running along, passing that flame from one person to the next. Well, Paul asks for prayer - that the message may be passed along rapidly, that the flame, the message may spread.
So the challenge worth posing to all of us is - how much does this priority fill our prayers. It's so easy to pray for my wants. I'll pray for the job promotion that I'm hoping for. I'll pray for the house we're wanting to get. I'll pray that I'll pass that exam. I'll pray that pet Fido will recover from his sickness. That's all good. But how often do we pray that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored?
How often do you pray for yourself - that you might have opportunity to talk about Jesus to your neighbours and colleagues?
How often do you pray for Phil and Matt who publicly teach the word? How often do you pray for Kids Biz Leaders? I'm sure many of you do - but I'll ask myself anyway - how often do I pray that God would use us to spread the message of Jesus?
Notice that Paul asks pray for us, that the message of the Lord may spread. See, the message of Jesus does not somehow just ooze out into the world. The message spreads as people speak it. If you're Christian - the flame of the Christian message was passed along, generation to generation, person to person until it finally came to you. You're part of this chain of people passing along the flame. The message can keep on spreading through you.
Because of the time that we live in - awaiting Christ's return when he will bring both salvation and judgment - this should be so important to us. We live in this time when we await Christ's return and let that shape our priority to pray for the spread of the message.
Well, Paul moves on to give another prayer request in verse 2, and that is, for protection. It says in v2, And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith.
Here Paul prays for deliverance, for rescue from wicked men. But I don't think that Paul is simply asking for an easy way out. No - I take the prayer request of v2 is linked to his prayer request of verse 1. Pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men in order that the message of the Lord which we are proclaiming would go out rapidly.
We're not sure where Paul is when he writes this letter but it seems he's copping opposition just like he has in other places. Where ever the true gospel is proclaimed there are evil men. It's as if the gospel is a magnet - that attracts people, but also like a magnet - it repels as well. There are wicked people who are opposed to Paul and his message and so Paul asks for prayer to be delivered from that opposition so that the message can keep going and going and going and going.
Now notice what's at the end verse 2. There is a strange phrase there - 'for not everyone has faith'. Yeah, thanks Paul - could you get any more obvious?! It's like 'not everyone has brown eyes'.
But faith is not some quality that some have and others just don't have. To not have faith means an unwillingness, a desire to not trust in Jesus. It's not a quality, but an act of the will to not follow him.
And so Paul is telling these Thessalonians - and it is a great instruction for us - pray that the Christian message may not be stifled and stopped by people who are opposed to the message spreading.
Here in Australia in 2005 this needs to be our prayer. There are good reasons to pray this way ourselves.
Let me tell you about a guy named Daniel Scott. He's a Pakistani Christian who now lives in Australia, in Brisbane in fact. A couple of years ago he was a speaker at a Seminar held in Melbourne in which he spoke about Christianity and also spoke about Islam. In the audience at the seminar were 3 Muslim men and because he said negative things about Islam in making comparisons with Christianity - he's been taken to court under Victoria's religious vilification laws. Now just get your head around this - he spoke about Christianity - he said some things about Islam and he now might go to jail. Now that's in Victoria, but I reckon this sort of thing will only be happening more and more.
We need to pray that the message may spread rapidly and not be opposed by wicked men. Let us be people who so want the message of Jesus Christ to go ahead, that we pray that those who speak it would not be slowed or stopped by anyone who opposes it.
Well, 2 Thessalonians is all about being aware of the time we live in - we await Christ's return. Christ will come and bring salvation and judgment. But this shouldn't be a source of fear. We should actually have confidence. In verse 3 Paul says that he has confidence in God's strengthening. Let me read that. But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.
See, here we read that though the opponents to the gospel are without faith, the Lord Jesus remains completely faithful. The Lord is faithful to keep those who are his and strengthen them and protect them so that they can withstand any temptation and pressure.
And notice that the evil men of v2 has turned into the evil one in verse 3. We are shown the age that we live in - Satan is the one who is work behind all the human opposition and falsehood.
But let's focus on this wonderful confidence that can be had knowing that Jesus gives us strength and protection. The Christian life isn't easy. It does require hard work with the daily grind of being godly and resisting sin and being different and insisting that Jesus is the way.
And it reminds me of when I've done some overnight hiking. There I am walking along the track - and you're trekking through this open exposed plain with the sun beating down on you, kilometre after kilometre. And after finishing that part, you then have to walk through sand dunes and getting through that is so hard. And then after finishing with the sand, you have to go up this a great mountain. And your pack is getting so heavy, and you think to yourself - why did I ever agree to do this - was I crazy? But then after the plain and the sand dune, and the mountain - you come to a stream. And you get to take off your pack, sit in the shade and have a drink while dangling your bare feet in the cooling water. And you feel strengthened and refreshed to finish the journey.
Well, that is what God will do for us - he will strengthen us and enable us to keep going as Christians. You might be in the sand dunes at the moment - it seems so hard - you feel as if you're making no progress, but God will provide the help to keep going. Even though evil men are opposed to us and our message - God will provide the times of refreshing and strength - for you and I so that we can finish our journey.
Well, lastly in this section we read that Paul switches into prayer mode. Paul can't help himself - he just has to pray for his Christian friends in Thessalonica. And he prays that they would be guided into God's love and Christ's perseverance. Let me read v 4-5: We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we command. May the Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's perseverance.
We're not going to spend any more time on that verse - that's for next week - but look at verse 5, Paul prays that they be directed into God's love and Christ's perseverance.
See, if they are to keep going as Christians and endure temptations and pressures, it will be God who strengthens them. But they are strengthened by God as they know his love.
God's love needs to be what we go back to again and again and again. When things are so hard, we need to know that God love us. And of course God's love is supremely showed in the cross when Jesus died in our place. That's where God's love for us is demonstrated.
And so when we are in the battle of resisting temptation and pressure-our power comes from knowing God's love. If you're are a follower of Jesus, keep coming back to the truth, that God loves you so very much.
Now along with directing hearts into God's love, Paul's prayer is that they may be directed into Christ's perseverance. I take it Paul is saying that he wants these Thessalonians to have the sort of perseverance that Christ had. Remember Christ - he endured so much on the way to the cross but he had his face set towards the end and persevered in obedience to his Father's. Well, like Christ, we need to be directed into that sort of perseverance. We need the perseverance of Christ.
Let me tell you about someone who persevered. It's the story of Guillaume le Gentil. He was a French astronomer who lived in the late 1700s. He wanted to take measurements of the rare astronomical event of Venus crossing the face of the sun. He set off from France - to take these measurements in India, nearly year ahead of time. But because of various disasters, he was still at sea, a year after when Venus came round and he missed it.
But Le Gentil persevered and continued onto India and decided he would wait another 8 years for the next time Venus crossed the face of the Sun. He had 8 years to prepare in India. All his instruments were made perfectly ready. And the day finally came. But just as Venus was about to pass, a cloud slid in front of the sun and remained there for the exact whole time he could take any measurements.
Being a very persevering man, Le Gentil calmly packed up his instruments and set off home. But before he could leave India he got sick and had to stay there for about another year. Le Gentile persevered and he finally set sail for France. But on his way back, he went through a hurricane that nearly killed him. He persevered through that though and finally he got home to France - 11 and a half years after setting off and having achieved absolutely nothing. On arrival back home he discovered that his relatives had declared him dead in his absence and happily sold off all his property.
Now that's perseverance. But what was the point! This was empty, useless perseverance!
But Christ's perseverance was not. And neither is ours. As we are strengthened by God and directed into Christ's perseverance, then we can know that in the end he will count as worthy of the kingdom and we will share in Christ's glory when he returns.
The letter of 2 Thessalonians gives us the picture of the time that we live in. And we live in the time when we await Jesus to come again to bring judgment and also to bring final salvation for us his people.
This sort of stuff might sound a bit abstract, a bit irrelevant. What does it have to do with the now? It's all a bit "pie in the sky until you die." But this letter and this passage in particular shows us it is not "pie in the sky until you die." It's more "steak on the plate while you wait". It makes a difference now. If Christ is coming again we need to live accordingly.
There's been an ad on TV that I really like. It's a Gold Lotto ad. In it a young yobbo bloke knocks on the door of a fancy house in a fancy neighborhood. A very rich posh woman answers the door and looks a little bit confused to see someone like this on her doorstep. He cheerfully says, "G'day - I'll be your new neighbour soon."
It's funny because he hasn't won the Lotto yet, but he's so sure he will. See, he knows what is to come so he acts accordingly. He reckons he knows the future and so it makes a difference. But what a false hope.
But we have a true and good hope. Jesus will return. Judgment and Salvation will come - so it changes our priorities, it changes where we place our confidence. Let's pray for the spread of the message. Let's pray that it would not be stopped by evil men. And we can be confident that as we keep knowing God's love for us, God will strengthen us so we will be safe and secure until the end.