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We Ourselves Boast About You · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  2 Thessalonians 1, our text this morning, verses 1-5. Allow me to read our text and then we'll begin. 2 Thessalonians 1, 1-5, says this, Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians and God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
• 0:25
  We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. Therefore, we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring. This is the evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God. And Lord, we pray.
• 0:53
  That as we look to your word this morning, that your Holy Spirit would be at work in our hearts and our minds, that you would help us to understand the truth as it is revealed here. And God, that our hearts would be submissive to your will. God, may we pattern ourselves after your word and not the other way around. May we be transformed by the renewing of our minds. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Have you noticed that there are some people in our...
• 1:23
  culture, in our country that just walk with a lot of swagger. Swagger is kind of this opinion, high opinion of yourself that comes out in the way that you live your life, that comes out as you put your life on display in front of others, the way that you walk, the way that you talk, trying to get noticed, trying to get attention. It's bragging without talking.
• 1:48
  that's swagger nobody in our country has more swagger than professional athletes professional athletes really believe many of them not all but many of them believe that the world rotates around them if you guys have been paying attention at all to the free agent market for major league baseball you see this on full display man there are some men that think pretty highly of themselves
• 2:18
  On the flip side, I was watching an interview given last week with a guy named Mariano Rivera. Mariano Rivera is arguably the greatest baseball closer of all time. He is a ninth inning pitcher for the New York Yankees. And regardless of what your opinion about the New York Yankees is, you've got to admit that Mariano Rivera was incredible. He was unhittable. He pitched for well over a decade and was that niche kind of closer.
• 2:47
  pitcher, what I love the most about Mariano Rivera, and this is the reason they're doing interviews and things now, is because he is for the first time on the ballot for the Hall of Fame, and he will without a doubt be a first ballot Hall of Famer. Absolutely, he will be inducted this coming July. It is one of the highest honors they can give in baseball, not only Hall of Fame, but first ballot Hall of Fame. He will go multiple World Series champion. He was the last guy who will ever be allowed to wear number 42, Jackie Robinson's famous number.
• 3:17
  They retired that across baseball except Mariano Rivera. Mariano Rivera was allowed to wear it until he retired. And now that he has, nobody else is allowed to. An incredible pitcher. And what's absolutely crazy about Mariano Rivera is that he only threw one pitch. One pitch, he threw the same pitch over and over and over. And even though batters knew it was coming, they could not hit it. He was famous.
• 3:45
  for breaking bats he was famous for it professional baseball players use only wood bats they're not allowed to use any kind of metal any kind of alloy none of that only wood bats and if you hit it off the thin part the handle part above your hand that thing's just going to shatter send you know wood fragments all over the infield and he was famous for breaking bats he threw this
• 4:05
  Cut fastball, 93 miles an hour, over and over and over. And it just moved enough that these hitters would try to get after it. Anytime they hit it, their bats would just explode. In his farewell tour across the nation, every time he visited a ballpark for the last time, he was honored by that ballpark and typically given some kind of trophy. Many of the trophies that he received were comprised of built-with broken bats.
• 4:33
  These guys would lay them all out there. These are all the bats that Mariano Rivera broke, right? And they'd make this trophy for him and they'd hand him this thing, broken bats. What stood out to me in this interview as they're going through, and this is one of the best of all time. What stood out to me in this interview was his humility. Like I said, one of the greatest, maybe the greatest closer of all time and a strong believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's just, he quietly goes about his business.
• 5:02
  We respect it across baseball and in the baseball world. And as the interviewer was asking him questions, he asked Mariano Rivera about his walkout song. The walkout song is the song that they would play every time Mariano Rivera was coming out to pitch the last inning and close the game. The walk-up song is what a batter uses, right? So those are the most famous. A batter will, every time he comes to the plate, they play this little 30-second clip of whatever song he requests.
• 5:28
  And so they wanted to know about Mariano Rivera's walkout song. One minute of this song every time he took the mound. And for 15 years, it was Enter Sandman by Metallica. That was his walkout song. And, you know, famous kind of hard rock band and whatever famous song. Why did you choose that? And Mariano Rivera just said very humbly, he just said, you know, I didn't choose that song. He said, honestly, when I'm taking the hill.
• 5:58
  I have a job to do. I'm not thinking about songs. I'm not thinking about walkout songs. He said, in fact, I can't even hear it. I am so focused on what I'm doing. I have no idea if music's being played or not. He says, they came to me and said, what do you want your walkout song to be? And I said, I don't care. You choose. And so he said, the New York Yankees scoreboard operator chose Enter Sandman by Metallica, and it stuck.
• 6:25
  And that was for 15 years. That's what he walked out to. And so the interviewer said, well, what would you have chosen? If you could go back and choose a song. And he just said, I don't know what I'd have chosen. I would have chosen a Christian song that nobody would have liked. Now, on the other hand, and I won't say his name here, but a famous baseball player, the Colorado Rockies had a shortstop who was an all-star shortstop. It's not the guy they have now. And who was good? Good. He will not be a Hall of Famer.
• 6:54
  Certainly will never make the Hall of Fame ballot, in my opinion, I think. But lived his life, conducted his life, went about his business in a very different way. Every time he came to the plate to hit, he played this one song. And it's a goofy song, and I wouldn't recommend that you YouTube it or whatever. But he just played this one little song. And let me just read to you the little part, the lyrics that were played every time he walked up to hit. It goes like this. You can tell everybody.
• 7:24
  Go and tell everybody. You can tell everybody. I'm the man. I'm the man. I'm the man. Yes, I am. Yes, I am. Yes, I am. And it was apparently written by Dr. Seuss. I mean, honestly, every time I hear that song, I'm like, you've got to be joking. That's a song? That guy made so much money writing that. I mean, kindergarten lyrics. Come on. I'm the man. I'm the man. I'm the man. I thought, man, that is a funny thing.
• 7:55
  To play, number one, if you really are the man, you don't have to tell everybody, right? Everybody already knows. The guy who says, I'm the man, isn't the man. Can I get an amen? It's not him. And it's also a really funny thing to play when you're coming to the plate where historically, even the greatest hitters of all time failed 70% of the time. You come into the plate, I'm the man, I'm the man, I'm the man, and then strike out looking?
• 8:27
  Go back and sit down, man. It's so weird, this swagger that people just exude, it just pours out of them. What I've noticed, and there's a funny thing that happens in our text this morning in verse 4. In verse 4 it says, Therefore we ourselves boast about you. Paul...
• 8:48
  actually was bragging about the thessalonian church he was bragging about them to other churches you wouldn't believe the things this church is doing he had such a high opinion of them that he was bragging about the thessalonian church and what i've noticed is there are some churches and i pray that it would never be true at highland i pray that we would just walk in humility toward one another and before the lord but i've noticed that there are some churches that seem like they walk with a lot of swagger there are some churches i think
• 9:20
  that maybe really believe that they're the only ones doing it right. I know there's churches all over, but we're the only ones. We're really the only ones doing it right. We're the only ones doing this, and we're the only ones doing that. And they just have such a high opinion of themselves. And so Paul's statement here is, in verse 4, we ourselves boast about you, and the Lord begs the question, what type of church is actually worth bragging about? What type of church is worthy of the Apostle Paul boasting about them?
• 9:53
  Well, you guys will recall who have been here for a little while that we finished the study of 1 Thessalonians this last fall, and that book was a book about the power of the genuine gospel. It was meant for people like us, people like me, just a real guy with real problems who is in need of a real Savior. Many churchgoers pretend they have no needs, no faults, no temptations that seize them. They don their Sunday best, they head off to church, they're all smiles.
• 10:24
  and handshakes. The reality of our day-to-day lives often is so insulated that it will never be discovered. The gospel is talked about and generally agreed with, but never actually penetrates that thick veneer they shield themselves with. The true gospel never reaches their hearts, and so its power is never unleashed in their lives. Fake Christians who kind of nod along to a fake gospel. We said, man, is that not us?
• 10:54
  We will be the first to admit that we are a jacked up people. Amen. I mean, we need a genuine savior. The Bible calls us debauched, debauched, desperately wicked beyond cure. That's us. If Jesus isn't real, then somebody's got to tell us because I need something that is genuine, real, has real saving power. Our lives, our jobs, our marriages, our kids need the true gospel. And that is the truth.
• 11:23
  of first thessalonians is why that study this last fall was so powerful the church at thessalonica was commended because the gospel came not only in word but also in power and in the holy spirit and with full conviction that people did not just nod along in agreement but they actually believed and their belief their faith caused them to live transformed lives in second thessalonians the church
• 11:50
  had continued to progress on their spiritual journey. Their faith had grown. Their love for one another had increased. They continued to be a model church, an example to the surrounding region of a body of believers who allow the Lord's Spirit to work mightily in and through them. And so let me, by way of introduction, just...
• 12:11
  give some introductory points, some content points that will help us to understand this book in its context. There are some things in 2 Thessalonians that are still true. As we studied 1 Thessalonians, here are the things that remain true. First, the city of Thessalonica and its citizens believed in what we would call religious plurality. The Thessalonian church was adrift in a sea.
• 12:41
  of great religious pluralism and confusion the thessalonian church or the thessalonian people not the church but the people would believe anything they believed everything and because they believed everything they really believed nothing they wouldn't be convicted about anything they had plenty of room for jesus the problem was not getting them to believe in jesus the problem was getting them to stop believing everything else
• 13:10
  It does sound a little bit like American culture. You can find a little hint of everything. And in fact, many of the people who live in North Denver even believe in kind of an amalgamation of a synthetic composite of a whole bunch of different things, right? And they never mind sprinkling a little Jesus over the top as long as he doesn't bring any conviction to their lives. That was the city.
• 13:39
  and its citizens. Notice the authors, Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy in chapter 1 and verse 1, same exact three authors as the first book. The apostle Paul was called by God to be the first missionary to the Gentiles. He was an eloquent speaker. He was very well educated. He was the self-proclaimed chief of sinners and an apostle born out of time. Silvanus, a.k.a. Silas,
• 14:08
  was a traveling companion of Paul. He became Barnabas' replacement. When Barnabas and Paul had that dispute and they each went their own way, Paul grabbed Silas and took him along with him on a second missionary journey when the church at Thessalonica was planted. Now Timothy, Timothy was the apostle Paul's pastoral protege. He was his son in the faith. Timothy was half Jewish and therefore considered by many to be not Jewish at all.
• 14:40
  Timothy is mentioned in 10 of the 13 of Paul's New Testament letters. Paul loved this young man, and in fact, it was to Timothy that Paul handed the reins of the first century church after his execution. We'll recall that the church at Thessalonica was brand new when Paul penned his first letter. In fact, 1 Thessalonians would be probably one of Paul's first letters ever penned, inspired by the Lord.
• 15:08
  They were less than a year old in their faith. They were all baby Christians. None of them grew up in Christian homes. None of their testimonies began with, my parents were Christian. I was raised in the Christian faith. None of them were. They were all first generation Christians. And as a congregation of less than a year old, Paul writes the book of 1 Thessalonians to them, commending them for becoming a model church, even in their spiritual youth. 2 Thessalonians is written only a few months later. And you find the reason to be
• 15:39
  additional letters were continuing to be written to the Thessalonian church, claiming to be from the Apostle Paul, but not actually written by the Apostle Paul. Look at chapter 2 and verse 2. Do not be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed either by a spirit or a spoken word or, what does it say? A letter seeming to be from us. Apparently the Apostle had written 1 Thessalonians.
• 16:08
  And then a few months had gone by and after 1 Thessalonians was done, more letters were coming in by fake authors making claims that Paul did not believe. And so he says, don't be shaken in mind. Don't be confused. I didn't write that stuff. So what were they teaching? In between his correspondence, the church had been thrown into confusion regarding specifically in-time events. Some false teachers had come claiming to be from Paul.
• 16:41
  had convinced this young group of believers that they had missed the Lord's coming. Can you imagine that? Jesus said he would return, and they had gone into this church and said, he's already returned, and you missed it. You either aren't genuinely saved, right, which is a conclusion you would draw, or you would change your theology really quick and say, well, the Lord must have abandoned us, or somehow he forgot us. You can see why this would cause confusion.
• 17:10
  Combined with that, coupled with that, was the fact that the honeymoon phase of their relationship with Christ had worn off. They began experiencing persecution. And this, combined with the fact that they thought Christ had left them behind, caused some in the church to despair and doubt the genuineness of their faith. But this false belief also caused others to abandon work entirely.
• 17:35
  The thought that Jesus had come and they missed it caused some just to sit back and no longer try to advance the kingdom. They became consumers in the church rather than contributors. Chapter 3, the Apostle Paul is going to deal with something called idleness. Idleness. I-D-L-E, not I-D-O-L. Not idolatry, but idleness. Sitting, your engine on, but not moving. Okay?
• 18:02
  And he's going to deal with that, the three main questions of the book. Why is there persecution? When will Christ return? And what about those in the church who are consumers rather than contributors? And so as we turn in our text this morning, the apostle begins his second letter by bragging about the church for their progress in three specific areas. One, and we see it in verse 3, is their growing faith. Their growing faith. Notice in verse 3 it says, We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right.
• 18:31
  Because your faith is growing abundantly. Now the larger field of meaning for the words translated growing abundantly includes the idea that their faith had grown beyond measure or specifically that their faith had grown well beyond what was expected. Their faith was growing deeper more quickly than Paul had ever imagined and in this he rejoiced.
• 19:02
  In his first letter, the apostle prayed that they would complete what was lacking in their faith. That's 1 Thessalonians 3 and verse 10. And here he finds his prayer being answered. The church was growing in their faith and some I've found resist spiritual growth. That's hard to believe that that would be true, but there are some even who know Christ, who profess faith in Christ, who resist.
• 19:33
  growing in christ because growth necessitates change and we don't like to change i'm a very good friend who owned a business but if you if you asked him what he did for a living if you just said you know what is your job he would call himself a ditch digger that's what he would say i'm a ditch digger
• 19:59
  And that's what he would call himself. You can imagine the guy out on the side of the road working for a department of transportation or whatever, right? Digging out culverts and whatever. What he failed to mention was that's not actually what he did. He owned a business that was hired by national home construction chains.
• 20:20
  who would come in and build 500 houses at a time. They would subcontract his company to level all of the ground, to dig all of the plumbing. I mean, he says he digs ditches, which is technically true. What's actually the case, though, is that he owned about...
• 20:36
  50 bulldozers, tractors, other heavy pieces of equipment, had dozens and dozens and dozens of employees. That's what he actually did. He ran a very successful business for a long time before he sold that business and retired. He was hugely successful as a businessman. And he said, you know, Danny, there were guys that used to come to me because they said they wanted a job. I'd say, okay, well, what do you do? Well, I drive tractors. And they'd say,
• 21:05
  I have 20 years of experience. I have 20 years of experience. And he said when they said that, my expectations on them as a tractor driver were way up here, right? If you've been doing this for 20 years, man, there's nothing you don't know about how to drive a tractor. What I found is when they actually got inside and began to operate the machines, he said they don't have 20 years of experience. He said they had one year of experience that they repeated 20 times. You have 20 years.
• 21:35
  of first year experience just because you've been driving that thing for 20 years doesn't mean you have 20 years of experience you can imagine meeting the guy who says i have 20 years of schooling you say well what's your phd in oh i don't have a phd he says i just i liked play-doh so i just hung around in preschool letters phonics the bright colors and the snacks and i love the afternoon nap
• 22:06
  I just 20 years. I have 20 years of schooling. You don't have 20 years of schooling. You have one year of schooling. 20 times. And I pray that it would not be the case. But I can imagine that there would be some who would be in the faith for 20 years and yet not have 20 years of experience with Jesus. They're still living on the baby stuff. One year of experience. 20 times.
• 22:36
  I pray that it would not be the case, but I can imagine that there would be some in many churches, and I pray that it wouldn't be true here, but that have been with Jesus for a long time, decades, and yet have never grown in their faith because they resist spiritual growth. To grow is to change, and right now I'm comfortable where I'm at. And so I don't want to grow anymore. It is not always the case that those who have been in Christ the longest are the most mature. And here,
• 23:03
  the church at Thessalonica was being commended because he said, you have grown well beyond your years. You've only known Lord for maybe 18 months, but you act very mature. You act as if you've known him for decades. They were growing in their faith. And so the apostle Paul was bragging, bragging about them. Second, notice they had an increasing love, an increasing love. The end of verse three, he says, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.
• 23:33
  in the same way that paul had prayed for their faith to grow he also prayed for their love to increase first thessalonians chapter 3 in verse 12 says may the lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all he prayed that their love would increase and here we find again his prayer was being answered like a plant
• 23:53
  sending out its roots deeper and deeper so as to gain more and more water and nutrients from the soil so also the growing depth of love the church had for one another was causing them to become more and more healthy you can imagine a tree sending its roots deep to make it strong so that it can gain more water and get more nutrients and the deeper the roots the stronger and more healthy the true in the tree and the same is true in the church as we send out those roots
• 24:21
  of love deeper and deeper and deeper into the soil. He says you become a healthier and healthier and healthier church. Love, in fact, should be the hallmark of every church. Jesus himself said it in John chapter 13. A new command I give you, that you love one another just as I have loved you. You also are to love one another. By this, all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.
• 24:50
  People will know if we're Christians or not by the way we treat one another. If we're loving toward each other, they're going to wonder why that is, that we would extend the same love that Christ has extended to us toward others. Listen to Galatians chapter 5 and verse 6. For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything. There were some in that Galatian church that were arguing over this second salvation, getting circumcised. He says that's physical, it's external, it means nothing.
• 25:19
  It means nothing. In Christ, circumcision, uncircumcision, it means nothing but only faith working through love. Can you imagine the weight of that statement? The only thing that counts, he says. The only thing is faith working through love. So how's our faith? How's our love? There are some things in our culture today that disgust us.
• 25:53
  but should probably break our hearts instead. Does your heart break when you see a young man or a woman confused about their gender? And I'll admit, and honestly, I confess this to my shame, that there have been times when I'll see a young man dressed a certain way or acting a certain way, and whether I verbalize it or not, on the inside, I'm repulsed, I'm disgusted, rather than heartbroken and compassionate. Or I'll crinkle my nose, turn my nose up,
• 26:28
  raise an eyebrow, and I'm telling you, and this is why I'm ashamed to admit it, but as soon as my heart is repulsed, the offer of gospel salvation to that young man or woman is over. We cannot be disgusted and loving at the same time. And don't get me wrong, I am not saying that what they're participating in isn't disgusting. It's disgusting. But just because it's disgusting,
• 27:00
  It doesn't mean we're allowed to be disgusted, right? It got quiet in here all of a sudden. There's a difference. Compassionate hearts, breaking hearts, weeping over the loss. You guys, those are the traits of our Savior. Not anger, not preaching, not pounding judgment. That was not what Jesus came to do. He didn't say he came to condemn. In fact, he says, I did not come to condemn, but to save. Do you become disgusted?
• 27:36
  Or do you feel loving compassion toward them? And I pray that our hearts would be soft rather than repulsed. I pray that the Lord would give us that kind of love. That is the kind of love that this world needs. Not condemning judgment, but rather heartbroken, compassionate love. So that when we speak the truth of the gospel of repentance, it can be received. The church was commended for an increasing love. Notice last, they were commended for an enduring hope. Verse four says this,
• 28:09
  Therefore, we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring. This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God for which you are also suffering. This one is hard to understand, but persecution, according to God's word, is used by God to strengthen a believer's faith and ultimately to drive that believer toward him.
• 28:39
  And here are a couple of verses that make absolutely no sense if that statement is not true. Psalm 119, verse 71. The author says, it is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. You say, wait, what? Affliction isn't good? It was good for me to be afflicted? No thanks, I'll pass. You can save that good stuff, okay, Lord? He continues in verse 75. Oh, I know, oh Lord, that your rules are always righteous and that in faithfulness.
• 29:10
  You have afflicted me. The suffering, the judgment came because of God's goodness. You say, well, how could that be true? Because of what it produced in the life of that man. One author has said, trouble, distress, affliction, pain, and suffering drive those with genuine faith to a greater dependence on the Lord. And that dependence increases their knowledge of him, which in turn increases their ability to trust him.
• 29:40
  And all of that is true, but perhaps the greatest benefit of suffering is given here in verse 5. The greatest benefit of suffering is that it provides evidence of the genuineness of your faith. This, he says, is evidence of the righteous judgment of God that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God. They began to be persecuted. They were taught that persecution meant that they might not be saved, but the apostle here says the exact opposite.
• 30:10
  This persecution is given to show that you really are. I think a church to be proud of is a place where the genuinely converted see their faith increase, they see their love grow, their hope endure despite persecution, and their focus remains singularly on God's kingdom. Let us not be a church with swagger, right? Bragging without talking.
• 30:41
  Let us instead measure our church against these standards. First, is our faith increasing? As we grow as a church, growing in our knowledge, as we grow as a church, are we also growing in our knowledge of Jesus Christ? Are we believing more and more and putting God's word into practice more and more? Second, are we as a church growing in our love of our Lord and our love for one another? Not being repulsed by sin?
• 31:05
  but brokenhearted over it? And third, are we as a church growing more steadfast in our resolve to stand for the truth regardless of the persecution that may bring, knowing that persecution legitimizes our claim as children of God? If you pray with me, Lord, I do pray that you would bless the hearing of your word. Help us, Lord, to understand the truth and to live according to it. God, give us compassionate hearts. I pray that love would be the hallmark of this church.
• 31:35
  God, that your own words would be preached from here. Yes, the Father saw us and loved us and so gave his only Son. Whoever believes would be saved, but that you did not come to condemn, but to save. And Lord, I pray that that loving gospel message would ring out from the body of Highland Baptist Church. Lord, be praised and glorified through it. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.