A Thankful Boast

And we're going to get to a new series. You know that we've been sort of bouncing around this summer with different faces, different people.

By the way, I'm wearing my shoes this week. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, then catch up on live stream. My friend Pat Ryan was here last week, and apparently he thinks of our place as holy ground.

Because he removed his shoes to preach, which he has done for 40 years in ministry, which is interesting, strange. But I keep my shoes on, and I'm also really glad to be back to a series, a series in a book of the Bible.

And so I'm going to ask you in a second to find that scripture journal or your book, your Bible, find the book of 2 Thessalonians. And we can turn there. But before we get there, before we dig in, I want to play a little game with you.

It's not really a game. It's kind of a thought experiment. Can I do that? But here's a thought experiment. I know it's mid-July or late July. We're not thinking a lot, but I'm going to ask you to think here for a second.

I want you to imagine that you are taking a short-term missions trip. Who here has been on a short-term missions trip ever? Wow, like half of the congregation.

Imagine you are on a short-term missions trip, and you're going to what they call a closed country. Closed country in that it's not a country that's favorable to Christianity.

Maybe it's a Muslim nation. And this means that there will be serious opposition to the Christian faith, if not outright persecution coming at you if you share Jesus, if you share the gospel of what he's done.

But you go anyway, you share the good news of the gospel, and some people come to a newfound faith. It's great. Professing Christians. But then imagine that you had planned to stay longer, and the trip gets cut short.

Just three weeks in, and you have got to get out of there because the authorities are on to you. And I don't know how you do it. Maybe the U.S. consulate helps or whatever.

But you manage to get out. You escape with your life. Would you wonder how those new believers are doing? Would you worry that they might be stumbling in their faith, especially with so much persecution?

And what if you didn't have the communication that we have today? I mean, now we can send a text, write an email, make a phone call. But what if you had to rely on in-person trips and maybe a handwritten letter?

Well, I want you to understand that that is very much, very much the world of Paul and these Thessalonians. Because on his second missionary journey, recorded in the book of Acts, chapter 17, we read of something very much like what I just described.

Acts 17 · chapter mention

It actually happened. And what happened was a fragile young church was born, what you might call a delicate baby church here in this ancient Greek city.

You know, I was thinking a lot about Thessalonica. And it's funny, but we actually as a church support missionaries in the city. They call it now Thessaloniki, but it's the same Thessalonica.

Nathan and Amy Mosier with world partners. Our church supports them. And so as we're in this series over the next several weeks, I just want you to think about them and pray for their ministry.

And I want you just to be amazed at the fact that God's church survives, doesn't it? It's a 2,000-year-old church in the city. The work that Paul started back in Acts, chapter 17, is still a work that the Mosiers are a part of.

Acts 17 · chapter mention

And by extension, you as a church are supporting that very work. But let's talk about the city of Thessalonica. I'll give you a little bit of background.

Before we do, let me just ask you, would you pray with me? Let's bow our heads and pray. Father, we do as we come to your word and open up this book that you have given to us.

These are living words. Living words given for all time, but which were spoken into a specific situation. So, Lord, as we better understand what's going on here in the day that Paul ministered in the lives of these believers to whom this letter is written,

will you do the supernatural work by your spirit that only you can do? We believe in the power of your word. This church and many others, we are committed to it.

And so we pray all these things in the name of our Savior, in the name of King Jesus. Amen. Amen. Thessalonica. I'm going to call it that. I know they say Thessaloniki, but I just can't do that.

It's Thessalonica. It is a story with a rich history. I'm going to share a little bit about it. A history that dates, predates, I should say, even the Apostle Paul.

Go back to 350 B.C. That's before Christ. 350 B.C. And this city was founded in what we would call modern-day Greece. Back then they called it Macedonia.

So it's a northern part of Greece. And as you can see from one of these maps behind me, it is a harbor town. It's on the sea, on the coast. And what was unique about this harbor, it was a great harbor because it was safe.

And that meant ships could get in and out without crashing on the rocks or having other ill things happen to it. It was safe because of the mountain ranges around it.

And during the days of Alexander the Great, the city really prospered. No thanks to this great harbor. No thanks also to the mines that were located all around the city and the region in these mountains.

You had gold mines, silver mines, copper, iron mines. And so with all these rich natural resources and this great harbor, it was a very strategic location.

It also connected other towns along the northern coast of the Aegean. So the Greeks ruled for a very short time. Their empire is very short-lived.

And then along come who? The Romans, right? And the Roman Empire took things over and they recognized, among other things, that if they were going to keep this empire unified and prosperous, they needed a good road system.

It's like an ancient version of the Eisenhower interstate road system. They had something like that. And so Rome over to the west in Italy, and then the other end of the empire is Byzantium to the east.

The Romans recognized that it would be really good to connect these two. And so they did that. They built a road called the Via Ignatia or Ignatian Way.

You can still go there and see it today. You can walk it today. That's an actual picture that I have behind me. So the fact that you had a major interstate running through Thessalonica, along with this great harbor and rich natural resources,

you can understand why the city did well, why it prospered and grew. Fast forward now to the first century, to the year A.D. 50, A.D. 51, Paul's day.

And the city has a population of like 100,000 to 200,000. We're not exactly sure, but it's a big city. One of the biggest in the region. It had a very vibrant economy.

It also had a very vibrant Jewish presence. There were Jews who lived in this city. And every time the Jews settled in a city, they would build a synagogue.

So they had a synagogue here as well. And it's what you might call kind of a perfect combination for the Lord to send someone in. And that's exactly what happens over in the book of Acts chapter 16.

Acts 16 · chapter mention

So we're going to get to 2 Thessalonians, but if you want to maybe put a finger in that and open up over to Acts 16 and 17, let me give you a little bit of the backstory for how this church got established.

Here's what was happening in Acts chapter 16. You have the Apostle Paul having a very fruitful ministry in a place called Asia Minor. That's modern-day Turkey.

Acts 16 · chapter mention

He's running all around this region, staying there on the land, not setting sail anywhere, having a fruitful ministry. And then the Lord does this, Acts chapter 16, verse 7.

Acts 16:7

And when they, this is Paul and his companions, had come to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.

So passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas, and a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him, saying, come over to Macedonia and help us.

And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

You know, real quick lesson here on omnipresence. Let me just make sure you're clear. Omnipresence means that you have the ability to be everywhere.

And I just want to establish that you and I don't have that, do we? Right? I cannot be in any more than one place at a time. I'm a human being.

So were you. So was Paul. And look at what happens here. Paul had to say no to a certain ministry. He had to leave one ministry in order to go to another one, to start a new one.

Paul was not omnipresent. Neither was the apostle Paul omnipotent, all-powerful. He couldn't do everything, and he wasn't supposed to do everything.

God would need to use other folks to take the gospel into those other regions. And in fact, from history, we know that he did. And maybe it's a good lesson for us, just real quick, to remember that.

That just like Paul, we can't be everywhere and we shouldn't try. And we can't do everything and we should not try. The key is listening to the Lord.

Following his leading and his calling very specifically for you. I just want to share that word for you wherever it is that you are in life.

If you're in a situation of ministry, if you're in a workplace, if you're in the home right now with the primary care of a family, you can't do everything.

And your job is to be a faithful and bright shining light where he has called you. That one's free. That's not even what the sermon's about.

All right. So Paul gets the call, right? And it's a man of Macedonia. He didn't have a phone. He just was like waving in his vision. Come over and help us.

And Paul's obedient. And so here he comes and he's flanked by two great right-hand, left-hand men. He's got Silvanius or Silas, Paul and Silas.

That's kind of his right-hand man. And they've got now this new young protege with them, a young man named Timothy. And so the three of them set off from Troas.

They arrive in Macedonia. And they get there and they have this great ministry in the first town that they stop in that has a Jewish synagogue.

And that's Philippi. Again, there's a letter in your Bible, Philippians, that is written in response to the church, the work that started there.

We're not going to talk about Philippi and Paul's ministry there. It's pretty exciting. But actually we're going to look at where Paul goes next.

Because as he leaves Philippi, he gets on that highway, that Via Ignatia, Ignatian Way, and he walks on over to the city of Thessalonica. Acts chapter 17 tells us the story.

Acts 17 · chapter mention

Verse 1. Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in as was his custom.

And on three Sabbath days, he reasoned with them from the scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead.

And saying, this Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ. And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.

Wow. Look at this. The gospel strikes yet again, doesn't it? And Paul's ministry is bearing fruit. But as it quickly turns out, this will prove to be a problem in the city of Thessalonica.

The local city officials called the Polytarchs, they don't like this. These city officials are very worried about keeping their special favor with Rome.

Let me try to explain. You see, although the Romans had to conquer everything, including Macedonia, and they fought a lot of wars, like three different wars with Macedonia, once they became that superpower that they were and crushed everybody, they actually ruled the empire pretty peacefully.

And for some special cities like Thessalonica, that gave them special privileges. Get this. They chose to make Thessalonica the capital for the whole province, which was one of the biggest provinces in the empire.

Thessalonica will be the capital. They even gave them the coveted status of a free city. You say, what's a free city? A free city is like it sounds.

They didn't have any taxes. They did not have to pay the Roman Empire taxes. That would be pretty sweet, wouldn't it? Any of you ever pay your property tax bill, like maybe last month?

How would that be if, you know, St. Joe County, where I live, St. Joe County were to pick, oh, I don't know, Clay Township, where I also happen to live, and say, we really like you Clay Townies.

Is that what we are? Are we Clay Townies? We like you, and we're not going to make you pay any more property taxes. It's almost like you really own your home.

Never mind. Wouldn't that be great? Wouldn't that be awesome? And I, for one, and maybe you if you live in Clay Township, would probably want to stay in the good graces of the local city officials so we could keep that status.

Well, the same goes for Thessalonica. And what is the number one way to show Rome that you are keeping in their good graces? Well, that's pretty easy.

They had this little thing called the emperor cult. And as long as you were an enthusiastic supporter of this robust emperor cult, everything was hunky-dory.

Emperor, the emperor, liked to think of himself as a god. We don't know if he really thought that. A couple of the crazy emperors probably did.

But he wanted to be worshipped. And so the Romans kind of conflated emperor worship with empire loyalty. Although they gave the Jews an exception in Palestine.

We'll get to that some other time. But for all the other cities, you had to participate in the emperor cult. And Thessalonica, they were really good at it.

They kept up at it with all their might. They had a nice big temple in the city constructed for the emperor, for worship of the emperor. They had a dedicated priesthood for emperor worship.

And they did this because they wanted to keep their privileges of being a tax-free, free city. And there were some other benefits that came with it, too.

They were able to work all their own minds. For a while, for a few hundred years, the minds were off-limits to the Macedonians. Romans took everything out of them.

And now they had given them back their minds. They let them mine the gold, the silver, the copper. And they even let them mint their own coins, their own money.

They let them run their own schools. They let them keep local city government. And they did it all without having a single Roman soldier stationed in the city.

That's how much trust there was. That's how much privilege Thessalonica had as a free city. It's almost like they really were a free city. Well, don't look now, but here comes trouble.

With these new Christians that they've heard about, led by that crazy guy, Paul. And they're looking to make Christians out of everybody in this place like they've done other places.

And they're going to ruin everything. And not just for the city officials. The local Jews were not excited about this either. You say, why not?

Well, because the Jews in the first century really hated the Christians. And they hated the Christians because they hated Christ. I think Jesus said something about that.

Don't worry if they hate you. Remember, they hated me first. And the last thing the Jews in Thessalonica want is a turncoat like Paul coming to their city and making more Christians out of their fellow Jews.

Because where is often, almost always, the first place, the first people group to whom the apostle Paul goes? To the synagogue? To his fellow Jews.

And so Acts chapter 17 goes on to tell us how they were jealous and they got busy. Acts chapter 17 verse 5. But the Jews, seeing the converts that were made, were jealous.

Acts 17 · chapter mention Acts 17:5

And taking some wicked men of the rabble. That sounds like a nice group of people. Taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd.

Now, we ask ourselves, do these Gentile Thessalonian city officials, do they care what upsets the Jews? Not really. And the Jews know that. But these hostile Jews are clever.

They are smart. And they're smart enough to know what will upset the local city officials. And it's two facts about the Christians. Fact number one, they are exclusive.

What we mean is they are monotheistic. They worship one God, and that one God is not going to be the emperor. And fact number two, who they do worship, they have this funny way of referring to Jesus as not just their savior, not just their Christ.

They also call him what? Their lord and king. And there's only one king for Thessalonica, and that's the emperor.

This is why those Jews egged on the wicked men of the rabble and got them to rush the house of Jason where Paul and his companions were staying.

Now fortunately, the new believers in Thessalonica here, Jason and his friends, they must have known ahead of time. And they smuggled out Paul, and the others got them out safely.

But check out what happens in verse 6 as we read on. Acts chapter 17, verse 6. And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them.

Acts 17:6

And they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus. And the people in the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things.

Yeah, they were. It's like you Christians are going to ruin it with the Romans. You're bad for our city. Here we are. We've been living tax-free as a free city, living large and in charge of everything here.

From our minds to our port to our education. We're in charge of everything, and you're going to ruin it. They're not going to participate in the emperor cult?

Oh, no. Can you imagine how hard this must have been for this fledgling young church? Fragile little church whom Paul had spent how long with?

Three weeks. A three-week short-term missions trip. The baby Thessalonian church was just that, a newborn baby. And this is why Paul, about a month after he got out of town, after he'd been smuggled off, and finally landed somewhere safe down in Athens,

this is why he wanted to know how these new Thessalonian believers were doing. He wanted to know how they were. He wanted to come visit them again.

And he tried. He says in 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, 18, I tried many times, but Satan prevented me. And so he decided to send Timothy, young Timothy, the Greek, instead.

1 Thessalonians 2 · chapter mention

Here's what he says in 1 Thessalonians, the first book, chapter 3, verse 1. He says to them, Therefore, when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone, and we sent Timothy, our brother and God's co-worker in the gospel of Christ,

to establish and exhort you in your faith, that no one be moved by these afflictions. Paul sent Timothy for the purpose of, yeah, finding out how they're doing,

but also to ground them, to instruct them, to build them up, to teach them, to see how they were going to bear up under this hostile environment when everybody in town says, you're bad for the city.

He writes how he was actually worried that the tempter, again, Satan, he was worried that he might lead them astray, and that his labor would be in vain.

But Timothy returned from his visit. He came back to Paul, and guess what he reported? He brought a good report. And we know this, again, from 1 Thessalonians chapter 3, verse 6.

1 Thessalonians 3:6

Paul writes that, Now that Timothy has come back to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and your love, and reported that you always remember us kindly, and long to see us as we long to see you.

Paul tells them he was greatly comforted by this news. And so he went on to write them, again, this first letter, 1 Thessalonians, to continue grounding them.

Five chapters in the first letter that talk about how he constantly prays for them, how he was encouraged by what Timothy reported back about their faith.

He talks about how they were able to keep their joy, even in the midst of incredible affliction and persecution. He reminded them of how he himself labored while he was there, even for the three weeks, that he actually pulled out tent making and worked with his hands to kind of give them a model, an example,

that Christians aren't do-nothings, Christians aren't lazy. He went on to encourage the young church in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 to walk a holy life, a sanctified life, abstaining from sin, fleeing from temptation.

1 Thessalonians 4 · chapter mention

And he concluded that first letter on an incredible note of hope. He talked about the return of Jesus, the second coming, which he said is going to usher in the general resurrection of every saint on the final day when he comes.

That was his first letter. And now a few more months have gone by. Paul's now moved on to another city in Greece, Corinth. He'll spend about a year and a half there.

And while he's there, scholars believe that it's at this point that he may have gotten some additional news about the Thessalonian church. So that what we have in front of us now here in this second letter in our Bibles is likely written in response to this news that he's gotten.

Some of the big themes from the first letter are not present in the second letter, which suggests to us that some things kind of got dealt with.

They were doing well. And there are some themes that are repeated, which suggests there's still work to do. But as for the persecution, as for the hostile environment, we know not only was this continuing in Thessalonica, it seems that it was intensifying.

It was getting worse. And this now prompts Paul to write them this second letter. So let me turn your attention to that second letter, 2 Thessalonians, and follow along with me as I read the opening few verses.

We'll take just the first four verses right now. Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians, in God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace to you, and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. 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 and the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions

and in the afflictions that you are enduring. For today, we only have enough time to start with four verses, but there's a lot here. I want you to first look at the way he starts out.

He's the Apostle Paul. He's writing with his two companions, the right-hand man, the left-hand man, Silas, Silvanus, and Timothy. And honestly, the way he starts out in the second letter is identical to the first.

He opens with a blessing, grace, and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. You know what that blessing is supposed to remind them of?

It's like, hey, you're a part of a family now. You Thessalonian believers are family with us. You're part of the family of God, and God is our loving Father.

And we serve a risen Lord, one true Lord, not Caesar, but the Lord Jesus Christ. How rich and sweet-sounding must have this been to the Thessalonians' ears?

For this young, persecuted church that's hearing a lot around town about how bad they are, how terrible they are for the city, to hear a blessing extending the Lord's grace and peace to them, because they were not experiencing much peace locally.

hounded by your neighbors, harassed by city officials, sneered at in the marketplace, and who knows what else. But as Paul goes on in verse 3, this is where he has some really remarkable things to say.

I want you to hear this. First, it's about thanks. He says, we ought always to give thanks to God for you. He uses that word ought. It's an obligation for us to do this.

It's our duty. We owe it to give thanks. It even says it's right for us to do this. And we ought to do it always.

And then in the latter half of verse 3, Paul gets to the substance of why he's so thankful. Why am I so thankful? What's my thanks based in?

Well, first, it's because your faith is growing. Your faith is growing abundantly. Remember, he left this church at three weeks old. And even now, they're only maybe a matter of months old, maybe not even a year.

He had to leave so quickly. The mob was after him. And although Paul tried to come back, he was prevented by a satanic blockade. And even in spite of that, I mean, you think Satan didn't have his sights set on this young baby church to squash it?

He did. And yet, their faith grew. And yet, their faith was growing. And growing, not just a little bit, growing abundantly, Paul says. You do realize there are degrees of faith?

I mean, you know, when you come to faith, you have salvation. Jesus is yours. He's your savior. We're all equal in that sense. We're citizens of the kingdom.

But there are degrees of faith. And you can grow in your faith. You realize that even Jesus, when he was on earth, in his earthly ministry, pointed to degrees of faith in different people?

What did he say about his disciples? Oh, you of little faith? It got better. And what did he say when there was that time that a Roman centurion came by and said, I've got a servant.

He's sick. He's on death's door. I'm asking you to heal him. And then the centurion went on to do what? He said, you know, you don't need to follow me.

You just, I know what authority's like. You just say the word and my servant will be healed. You don't have to come across town. And what did Jesus say about him in Matthew 8, verse 10?

Matthew 8:10

Ironically, the same chapter where he said the disciples had little faith. He said, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. Other translations say, such great faith.

Let me ask you, is your faith growing? Are you content with where you are? Would other people, other believers around you really describe you as someone who is growing in their faith?

Or are you stunted? Are you still at the toddler stage? Don't want to get out of the diapers of faith?

Last part of verse 3 gets to the second thing that Paul is so thankful for. The second thing is their love. He says, it's that the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.

Increasing. This is what happens when you have a growing faith. Your growing faith works itself out. It manifests itself in an increasing love.

It increases our love for each other in the body, in the church family. It increases our love for one another in our homes, in our physical families.

It increases our love for brothers and sisters who may not be a part of our local church, but who are brothers and sisters in the kingdom. Some of you experienced that this past week at this camp down in Elkhart.

The love for other believers. We don't, you know, I don't like people in other churches. Oh, we love them. You should. Paul says that their love was increasing.

What that means is it was literally expanding and deepening. Growing deeper.

Can you relate to that? I can think of a very practical illustration as a parent.

We've welcomed four children into the world. It was a delightful feeling. We were very excited to meet each of our children as newborns. But you know what?

Later this week, we're preparing to move our 22-year-old down to Bloomington, Indiana. And are you going to tell me that my love for my son, our love for our son, has not increased from the day he was born?

That we looked at this little alien sort of baby that he was. No, our kids were beautiful. They were good looking. And that from the moment I first saw my son to where he is today at 22, that my love hasn't expanded and increased.

Parents, maybe you're married. I hope you're happily married. But do you mean to tell me that the day that you stood across from your husband or your wife on your wedding day, you were like at, you know, maxed out love.

This is it. This is about as deep as it gets. I'm going to tell you. Or in the five years you've been married, or the 10 years, or the 20 years, or for me, almost 30 years.

Some of you were like 50 years. Has your love not expanded and deepened and grown?

Have you not learned to deepen your love by bearing with these people in your home? Right? Putting up with one another. Isn't there a Bible verse about putting up with one another?

Something like that. Confessing sins to each other. Forgiving one another. Learning patience and long-suffering with each other. You learn to appreciate them more.

And that's true, teenagers. I know you don't think you're going to appreciate your parents, but you will. You will someday. All of these experiences that we have in our homes, the bumps and ups and downs of life, serve to expand love and deepen love and increase our love.

You know, over in Romans chapter 5, Paul talks about trials. Right? Sufferings. And in Romans 5, he says, our sufferings produce perseverance and perseverance, character, and character, hope.

Romans 5 · chapter mention

And then you know what he goes on and says in the next verse? This hope doesn't disappoint us because God does something. He pours down his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom he's given us.

and that in turn enables us to better and deeper, have better and deeper and deeper love for one another. That's what was happening with the Thessalonians here.

Through their trials and their adversity, they were becoming vehicles for God's all-powerful love that he was pouring down into them to give it to each other.

It was enabling them to increase their love for one another. You know, it's funny. It's almost like if we didn't know any better, like somebody behind the scenes was praying for this, that this would happen, that the love of the believers would increase.

And that's exactly what was happening. And the reason we know this is because Paul tells us in the first letter, this is what he was doing. Here, 1 Thessalonians 3, verse 12, this is what he said.

1 Thessalonians 3:12

He prays, and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all as we do for you. He says it again in the very next chapter, chapter 4, 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 9.

1 Thessalonians 4:9

He says, concerning brotherly love, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia.

But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more. More and more. That's what Paul had been praying for. And now, as he opens the second letter, he's telling them that this prayer has been answered.

Because the love every one of you has for one another is increasing.

This makes our apostle pretty happy. In fact, he's so happy he could just brag on him. Right? Which is what actually he goes on to say in verse 4.

Take a look. Verse 4. Therefore, we ourselves boast about you. We brag about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in all the afflictions you are enduring.

You know, honestly, when we read the word boast in the Bible, it's usually not in a positive context. Right? Even scholars say, you know, this is kind of a little jarring when we read Paul say, you brag.

It's almost like you want to say, are you sure, Paul? You know, maybe Timothy's there by his side saying like, you want to maybe like check the thesaurus for a different word?

All such boasting is evil. I think you said that in some other letter. Doesn't the Proverbs talk about how pride is a pitfall to us? Pride comes before destruction.

Boasting, Paul? Are you sure? And to be sure, there are definitely sinful manifestations of pride and boasting. And yeah, there are a lot of warnings in Scripture against this vice.

And you should stay humble. Don't boast in the sinful sense. But what we're learning here is that there is an exception.

This kind is all right. More than just all right. This kind is actually good when we boast in the work of God in another person's life. When we talk about the great spiritual work God's doing, the progress people are making

in their faith, and it's in someone else's life. Not your own. Not your own. But when it's in someone else's life, when it's about the work of God, and when we combine it as we naturally should with thanksgiving.

Thankfulness to God. When we do it out of a thankful heart, not a prideful heart, it's not about us, out of a thankful heart that gives all the credit where it belongs to God.

If it's that kind of boasting, it is A-OK. And Paul wanted this fragile, severely persecuted, baby new church, to know. I brag about you guys.

I talk about what God's doing in you to all the other churches. I'm here in Corinth. Last month I was in Athens. I'm telling everybody I meet about the Thessalonian church that I could barely spend any time with.

I'm telling them about your steadfastness. This is what I brag about. That you guys are in it. You're in the thick of it like nobody else. You got people all over that city hating you and persecuting you and trying to compel you under pressure to worship the emperor.

To stop with all that King Jesus talk. Because it might ruin the city's privileged status with the Romans. And I'm telling them that you're rock solid.

You won't budge. You have steadfastness. You are firmly rooted in your allegiance to your new Lord. Your new King. And it's Jesus. King Jesus alone.

You have endurance too. Perseverance. What's he say? He says you have it in what? In all your persecutions and afflictions that you're enduring.

That's remarkable. Paul would say that's otherworldly. That's a supernatural work. And it is inspiring. And I want all the other churches to know about it.

With believers in places that maybe don't have it so tough. I want them to know. And I want them to thank God with me. for you. I want them to pray for you.

And I want them to be challenged by your example. Are you challenged? I'm challenged. Because last time I checked, I don't face persecution.

Nothing like this. I don't know about you, but my life personally is not as difficult as it was back then for these people. people. I am not at this point being urged to worship a king or a president or some other world leader.

I'm not being actively railed against and told that I'm bad for society. And the example of this fledgling young church, this persecuted church inspires me and it challenges me and it should you too to be steadfast, to have a strong faith.

Make it strong now so that if there are more afflictions or persecutions up ahead for us, that we will be able to endure. your troubles, my troubles, and it might not be with the government or city officials or state officials pressuring us.

You probably are not being forced to shut down your business because you're a Christian. You're probably not being fired for your faith. You may not.

I don't think you probably go to Costco or Meijer and have people sneer at you. You're bad for this city.

But you may have other afflictions. just because our lives at the moment are not as difficult as an ancient group of peoples were doesn't mean we don't have trials.

Doesn't mean we don't have afflictions.

Can you stay steadfast? Stay steadfast when you have the extra bills you didn't think you were going to have? Can you be steadfast in your faith?

Can you stay steadfast when you feel down and depressed? When there's a different kind of spiritual, maybe mental, spiritual battle going on?

Can you stay steadfast? Let me ask you this here in late July. Can you stay steadfast in gathering with your fellow believers when the lake is calling, right?

You might be tempted to spend every weekend somewhere else rather than in the house of God. Can you stay steadfast and keep your faith when someone you love or maybe you yourself have to go to the hospital?

Or when there are other uncertainties and difficulties in your life? Listen, God loves you. God pours out his love for you. He is building you, as Courtney prayed, even in the hard circumstances.

In fact, we could argue that's when he's especially building you. Every bit as much as that young, afflicted Thessalonian church, God wants to see your faith grow abundantly.

He wants to see your love and my love for one another increasing.

So this morning I would say as we open this new letter together, think about what you have to thank God for. What do you have to thank God for?

And make your faith a growing faith. Don't be content. Make it a growing faith and let your love come along with it so that it might be increasing for others.

Because when those qualities begin to appear in your life and in the life of people around you who also know the Lord, we will all have something to thankfully brag about.

Right? Let me ask you if you would stand with me and bow your head as the team comes for our last song. And let's pray.

Lord, we know that any good work that happens in our hearts is because of you. Because of your power at work in us through the risen victory that your son has given.

Lord, we're going to talk later in this letter about that second coming and some incredible things that are coming up ahead. We don't know when that will happen.

But we live life, Lord, in this meantime, the Thessalonian believers lived life and it's been almost 2,000 years since they lived. And in this world, as you said, we will have trouble.

And so, Lord, help us to open our eyes and see that through these circumstances, this is when you help our faith grow. This is when you deepen our love for one another.

It increases. Jesus. So, Jesus, we give you this work. We pray for your help. I pray for the person this morning that is struggling to love.

I pray for the relationship, the situation where there are things that have occurred. There are hurts, maybe, and it's difficult to love the way we should.

We are so reciprocal, Lord. We think about love in terms of do you deserve it? Did you do something to not deserve it? And, Lord, remind us that you have poured out into us an undeserved love while we were still sinners.

You gave us the loving sacrifice of your Son. Christ died for us. And so, Lord, as we look forward into this letter and more themes, teach us, shape us, and build your church as only you can.

We pray this in the name of our King, in Jesus' name.