Great Expectations

Starting at verse 13. Let's hear God's Word.

And we also thank God continually because when you received the Word of God, which you heard from us,

you accepted it not as the Word of men, but as it actually is, the Word of God, which is at work in you who believe.

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,

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.

Okay, Tom is going to come.

Before he does, I'm going to pray for him.

Well, no, he's going to come up.

And before we listen to him, we're going to pray.

Yeah, so this is Tom, Tom Campbell, who's been around before.

Nice to have you back, Tom.

Nice to have you too, Grace.

And as you pray for Tom, remember Alex, who will be preaching next week following on.

So let's pray.

Our Father God, we thank you so much again for the people that you gift and enable to understand your word

and to teach it corporately like this.

We thank you, Father, for Tom.

We thank you for the help that you have given him in this past week.

And we pray afresh that you would pour out your spirit upon him and upon us,

that we may hear the word of God, not as the word of men, but as it actually is.

The word of God that is at work among us.

So we pray, work in us and change us and transform us to be the people and the church that you call us to be.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Thanks.

Good morning, everyone.

Now, I've been given a flicker, so if you're sleeping, I can zap you in the eyes.

Okay.

It's great to be back.

So we're really happy to be here again and see lots of familiar faces.

I'm just going to read the passage one more time, and then I'm going to pray and then get stuck in.

And we also thank God continually, because when you received the word of God, which you heard from us,

you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.

For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of God's churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus.

You suffered from your own people the same things those churches suffered from the Jews,

who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out.

They displease God and are hostile to everyone 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.

Father, please help me now to speak your word, not my words.

Help us to listen.

Send your spirit so that we can learn about you now.

Amen.

Okay, so just a quick update on what we're doing.

We're living in Middleton still.

Grace has finished her year studying to be a teacher, which she has finished, and she's now the best teacher.

She got awesome results in her exams, which you can ask her about.

She doesn't like when I say.

I have now moved jobs.

I am now working for Amazon from home.

So the Amazon website, not the jungle.

So I haven't been here in a while, but in our year of marriage, we've learned a lot.

It's been a great year.

We've really, really enjoyed it.

So, yeah, we're doing really well.

The title that I've given us today, Great Expectations, I guess with the idea that in life we all have expectations.

We all have ideas of what life's going to be like, what we're going to be doing, where we'll end up.

And I had great expectations for the Irish soccer team.

I was there with my Irish scarf and my Paddy Zela that Gracie bought me.

Vuvuzela, except an Irish version.

Two minutes in, 1-0 down.

Against Croatia, it only took two minutes for my expectations to be dashed.

So expectations don't always go as planned.

And we can see here a group of people that we can learn a lot about, who may have had certain expectations.

And people may ask, what will life be like as Christians?

But we have the security to know that God tells us.

So from these few verses, there's just a few points that I can take.

The first one we can see in verse 13, that there's good news from God.

And we also thank God continually because when you received the word of God which you heard from us,

you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God,

which is indeed at work in you who believe.

And that word of God is the gospel.

These people in Thessalonica were told about Jesus.

Told about the good news that Jesus died for them.

Because of the wrong that they'd done, Jesus had to die.

So that good news that they could be with Jesus was told to them.

That in verse 10 in chapter 1, we've already seen in earlier weeks,

Jesus who rescues us from the coming wrath.

They were rescued.

And that was the good news that they were told.

And we can see that this message is from God.

It's not a man-made story.

It's real.

And it's serious.

Because it's from the creator of...

Sorry.

From the creator of the whole world sends us this good news.

So this is why people stuck by it.

Because they knew it was good news and it was from God.

So would we choose to stick by something if we knew it was false?

Would we stick by something in the midst of severe suffering if it wasn't real?

So this is just a great proof that even though these people suffered, it was real.

It was from God.

They really believed it.

So they received the gospel.

The next part, God's amazing strategy.

We can see that even though it was Paul, Silas and Timothy, or as I might refer to them as Paul and Co,

they told them the gospel.

It wasn't God who audibly said it to them.

It was men who said God's word to them.

I think this is amazing that God uses people like us.

He gave them a job to do to deliver his message.

And I think that's a good illustration.

It's like, back to Euro 2012.

I won't get over it for a little while.

It's like Trapatoni coming to Caragalline, coming to St. Mary's,

picking some of the junior infants from St. Mary's to say,

come with me, we're going to Poland and Ukraine.

We're going to beat the Spanish.

So it's like somebody taking seemingly useless, incapable people to do a job.

And that's what God has done.

It's his message, but he takes people who are seemingly useless to do his job.

And we have that same mission.

So it's an amazing responsibility.

And just in 2 Corinthians, it sums this up well,

that we're given this ministry of what's called reconciliation,

bringing people back to God.

So I'll just read it.

You don't have to look it up.

From verse 18.

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ,

and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.

That God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ,

not counting people's sins against him.

And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

We are therefore Christ's ambassadors,

as though God were making his appeal through us.

We implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God.

So we are his ministers.

We are to tell this amazing good news.

And that's amazing that that's God's strategy.

So, something that I was really challenged by when I was looking at these verses

was the fact that God's word works.

So I'm just going to read the end of verse 13 again.

The word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.

Human words have the power to change and affect the way we live.

Right from when we were young, our teachers,

we would change what we do because of what they say.

Our parents, our friends, peer pressure.

So human words affect us.

So how much more can God's word affect the way that we live?

We take man's word and women's word,

when we're married maybe,

sometimes more seriously.

But how much more seriously should we take God's word?

He's the creator of all things.

We can see that God's word makes a visible difference in our own lives.

It actually changes us.

It's at work.

And that's an ongoing reality.

I just want to flick quickly to Hebrews.

Again, all these different references.

I'm just going to read them out.

4 and verse 12.

For the word of God is alive and active,

sharper than any double-edged sword.

It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit,

joints and marrow.

It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

So God's word is living and active.

It's not dead.

It actually works and changes people.

It's an ongoing reality.

But what I was really challenged with was that we need to put it there.

So if we're not putting God's word there,

it's not going to do anything.

It can sit on our shelf.

And from what I've heard,

I've got an illustration.

When you're washing clothes,

I think you need to use washing powder.

Grace says something like that.

When you put on a wash,

you have to put in detergent.

If you just stick the clothes in,

no washing up powder,

they're going to come out stinking.

Nothing's going to get clean.

They're just going to be wet and smelly.

Would just a small pinch of it work?

No.

You have to put in the right amount.

And I thought that was a good example.

That if we're just even taking two minutes a day,

one minute a day,

quick, look at the Bible.

Oh, I feel great now.

It's not going to work.

And that really challenged me.

Because it is something that you have to put in the time

to be changed by God's word.

So next time you're doing a wash,

you can think,

have I put in enough Bible today?

And then finally,

just in relation to this good news from God,

is that we need to have faith.

In verse 13,

the word of God,

which is indeed at work in you who believe.

So God's good news is accepted by

and at work in those who believe in Jesus.

We must trust in the Lord.

Trust in who he is, firstly,

that he is who he says he is.

In what he's done.

He sent Jesus to die for us.

And what he says, his promises.

What we can expect when we live for him.

We need to have faith in God's message.

Just an easy way to think about that

is just taking him at his word.

Sometimes believing or trusting or having faith

can be said so many times.

But simply it's just taking him at his word.

He'll do what he says.

So we should believe him.

And that applies for all of the promises in the Bible.

Not just about how he'll save us,

but everything.

How he'll look after us,

provide for us.

So we just need to trust in the Lord.

Okay, so that's the first thing.

There's good news from God.

The next bit.

Suffering for his sake.

So I'm just going to read

the next couple of verses.

For you, brothers and sisters,

became imitators of God's churches in Judea,

which are in Christ Jesus.

You suffered from your own people

the same thing those churches suffered from the Jews,

who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets

and also drove us out.

So we can see that the Thessalonians,

the people here,

became imitators of Paul and co.

and of the Lord.

In chapter 1, verse 6,

we already saw that.

You became imitators of us

and of the Lord.

For you welcomed the message

in the midst of severe suffering

with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.

Excuse me.

So they started out in suffering.

Their lives as Christians

started out in the midst of severe suffering.

And then they became imitators

of the church in Judea.

So as a people together,

they were like the church in Judea

who suffered from the Jews.

And because of this,

like we've heard in previous weeks,

they became famous.

Because they were like the Jewish churches,

they became famous.

Their faith was known

known all around that area.

So what did the Jews do?

They drove Paul and co.

out of Thessalonica.

The Jews started a riot.

They weren't happy

with what was going on.

The Jews had killed prophets

and killed Jesus ultimately.

So this was serious suffering

that was going on.

So they started out suffering,

but they also continued in suffering.

Why?

Because it was the truth

and they were convinced of it.

They stood by it.

So they became imitators.

So we must become imitators.

So what does that mean?

It might not seem very nice

from what I've just said,

imitating them.

But suffering is something

that will be an effect

if we are imitating.

It's part and parcel

of the Christian life.

They go hand in hand,

suffering for Jesus.

So there's kind of

three things here now

that I want to talk about

in relation to suffering.

Firstly, that we need

to be different.

Suffering with joy

and then a reason

so that others will notice.

So we need to be different

from our society.

As Christians,

and the way we live,

talk,

think,

we'll be different

if we're living

according to God's way.

And we'll suffer

because of this.

And that might vary

in different ways.

But because we're not living

like everybody else,

we will suffer.

And I had a question,

I had a thought,

if we never suffer

for our faith,

if we never experience

any sort of suffering,

persecution,

are we really different?

Are we really living

according to God's way?

And the slightly scary thing

is that Jesus actually told us

that we will suffer

in John.

I'm just going to read

from John 15,

18 to 20.

If the world hates you,

keep in mind

that it hated me first.

If you belong to the world,

it would love you as its own.

As it is,

you do not belong to the world,

but I have chosen you

out of the world.

That is why the world hates you.

Remember what I told you,

a servant is not greater

than his master.

If they persecuted me,

they will persecute you also.

So because we're following Jesus,

he was persecuted,

he was different,

he said radical things,

like Shane said,

outrageous.

Jesus said outrageous things

and he suffered.

We too are conveying

what Jesus says

and we too will suffer.

But that suffering

can be with joy,

we can rejoice.

and this is something

that is hard

to get your head around.

In chapter 1 of 1 Thessalonians,

verse 6,

I already read it,

that they accepted

the message

in the midst of severe suffering

with the joy given

by the Holy Spirit.

Do you see that?

The joy was given by God.

It was given by the Holy Spirit.

And now at times,

I think it will need

to be an active choice

that we need to trust

in the Lord.

So,

just as an example,

when we feel down

or if we feel depressed

because of bleak circumstances

around us,

and it always happens,

we may not feel like rejoicing,

we may not be happy at all.

Unemployment,

illness,

loss of a loved one,

not knowing how we're going

to pay the next bill.

All these things

are realities

that bring us down,

make us sad.

But what gets us through

is an active choice

knowing

that we can cling

to our salvation

by faith.

There's nothing else

we need to do.

That's all we need.

I think that's put well

in 1 Peter.

I'm just going to flick to it quickly.

I'm flicking around a lot.

1 Peter chapter 1.

1 Peter 1 · chapter mention

And it says,

In all this you greatly rejoice,

though now for a little while

you may have had to suffer grief

in all kinds of trials.

These have come

so that the proven genuineness

of your faith,

of greater worth than gold,

which perishes,

even though refined by fire,

may result in praise,

glory, and honor

when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Though you have not seen him,

you love him.

And even though you do not see him now,

you believe in him

and are filled

with an inexpressible

and glorious joy

Why?

For you are receiving

the end result of your faith,

the salvation of your souls.

So that's the root

of our joy,

our inexpressible

and glorious joy

when we're depressed

and down.

We can rejoice

because that's all we need

is salvation by faith.

And finally,

in this point,

we need to be different,

joyful suffering,

and so the others will notice.

Simply,

as we suffer,

people will see

we're standing up for something

so that others too

will come to believe.

So,

the next thing,

how will we suffer?

I was thinking more

in maybe how

this will get worked out,

but firstly,

I want to remind us

that it's joyfully

we will go through this.

Rejoicing.

And there's different ways

that we may suffer.

Here in Ireland,

we're in a very safe society.

Yes,

people might have

their own opinions

and views,

so we might experience

ridicule,

exclusion

from families

or friends,

laughing,

verbal abuse,

embarrassment,

losing status

in society,

maybe even losing a job.

Maybe you stand up

for something

that you think is right

and that results in

there's no longer

a job for you.

Depending on where we are

in the world,

this could become physical.

Physical beating,

imprisonment,

perhaps even death.

This is something

that the Thessalonians

were experiencing

when they were together.

Thankfully,

we don't here today,

but who knows

where we'll end up.

But even then,

I think it's amazing

in Acts.

I can't remember

the two of the disciples,

but they were

flogged

for preaching

the gospel.

And then when they left,

when they were released,

they counted it

as joy

because they were

considered worthy

of suffering.

I think that's amazing.

Can we count it

as joy

when we suffer?

Because when we

suffer for Jesus,

we know

we're doing the right thing.

And lastly,

suffering for his sake,

why will we suffer?

Like I said,

because we're different.

Our lives

and actions

and words

will actually challenge

people's motives,

people's hearts,

their world views,

and people don't like this.

And again,

depending on how

extreme it will be,

you might get a joke,

you might get a laugh,

you might get a,

you might be excluded.

But because we're

challenging people's views,

generally,

people don't like this.

So because we're different,

we suffer

because it actually

strengthens us

as believers.

By standing firm

through suffering,

we grow.

in James,

James 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1,

it says,

consider it pure joy,

my brothers and sisters,

whenever you face trials

of many kinds,

because you know

that the testing of your faith

produces perseverance.

Let perseverance finish its work

so that you may be mature

and complete,

not lacking anything.

So God uses suffering

to grow us,

to be more like him.

And another point,

why we suffer,

we actually validate

God's message

through suffering.

When we stand firm,

we are declaring,

I believe this is true,

I think this is right,

through suffering.

And ultimately,

it brings glory to God.

We're making him known.

Why do we suffer?

We're making God known

in this world.

If we're suffering,

we have to stand up

for what we believe in.

And as I've said,

we can do it joyfully,

knowing that it's for God.

So that's suffering

for his sake.

And finally,

the last point,

is we can know

that justice will be done.

So I'm just going to read

the last two verses

from 15b.

They displease God,

and are hostile to everyone

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.

So this point,

the idea that justice

will be done,

that wrath,

God's wrath is coming.

And this made me think

that suffering

is made easier.

In a tough situation,

the idea of an athlete,

the Olympics is coming up,

the training that they go through,

years and years of training,

a doctor,

the years that they go through

to get qualified,

it's really tough.

But when you think

of the end goal,

I'll make it,

I'll get to the Olympics,

I'll be a doctor.

It makes the process

more worthwhile.

So for us,

looking to our ultimate goal,

like we've mentioned,

the salvation of our souls,

makes suffering easier.

We can know that,

from these verses,

that God will do what's right.

He will bring justice

to the world.

So if we suffer injustice

or persecution

at the hands of people,

we don't need to get

our own back.

God will sort it out.

So then,

something I was reading

the other day

with grace

is in Hebrews 10

and verse 30.

For we know him who said,

it is mine to avenge,

I will repay.

And again,

the Lord will judge his people.

So God is the one

who will sort it out.

We don't need to worry.

So if we suffer

at the hands of people,

we need to leave justice to him.

We don't need to worry.

And that takes a huge weight

off our shoulders.

We don't need to get

our own back.

I'm an awful one

for hating injustice.

I hated cheating

when I was at camps.

Couldn't stand it.

But when there's injustice

in the world,

in our own lives,

we can relax knowing

God will sort it out.

From these verses,

we can see that God's wrath

is coming.

Wrath isn't really a word

that's often used.

So what is it?

It's God's righteous anger

against sin.

It's his anger

that is right.

It should be there

against sin.

There is an unstoppable force

coming.

God isn't happy with sin.

He's not happy with injustice.

We watched a film recently

called Unstoppable.

It's not great.

So if I ruin it,

don't worry.

It's about a train

that starts rolling

and they can't stop it.

And the whole film

is about this train

that is unstoppable.

And I guess it made me think of this,

that this unstoppable force,

God's wrath,

there's nothing to stop it.

There was images in the film

where there were cars,

caravans parked

on the train lines

and the train

just plowed through them.

There was nothing

to stop it.

They did stop the train

in the end.

But there is no stopping

God's justice.

There's no stopping

God's wrath.

It is coming.

And I think the phrase here,

the way Paul says it,

the wrath of God

has come upon them at last.

My initial thought was that,

right, this is so certain,

he's actually said it

in the past tense.

The wrath of God

has come upon them at last.

Whereas he,

God's wrath is still to come.

This actual verse

is a bit of an area of debate.

Possibly that the wrath

has already begun

to be fulfilled.

Some people point

to different actual events

in history

as being God's wrath

as pointed to

from these verses.

But one thing is certain

and we can think about

those things later,

that God's wrath

is coming.

There will be a point

when everyone

will face the Lord.

And God's mercy

won't extend forever

to those who don't trust Jesus.

We know that we are safe

when we trust in Jesus.

But God,

like it says

in the Old Testament,

in Exodus,

Exodus 34 · chapter mention

chapter 34,

he won't let the guilty

go unpunished.

And he passed in front of Moses

proclaiming,

the Lord,

the Lord,

the Lord,

the compassionate

and gracious God,

slow to anger,

abounding in love

and faithfulness,

maintaining love

to thousands

and forgiving wickedness,

rebellion and sin.

yet he does not leave

the guilty unpunished.

He punishes the children

and their children

for the sin of their parents

to the third and fourth generation.

So God is not a God

who stands by idly.

Justice will be done.

So this idea

that God's wrath

is coming,

there's great news,

but there's sad news

with this point.

The great news is

from chapter 1

in verse 10,

we've been rescued.

Jesus,

who rescues us

from the coming wrath.

Wrath is coming,

but we're safe

if we trust.

We have the joy

of knowing

that we have

a never-ending future

to be spent with Jesus

in a perfect world.

So even though

this wrath is coming,

we're safe.

He's rescued us.

But the sad news

is that some people

aren't safe,

those who don't trust

in Jesus.

They will have to face up

to that unstoppable force

that is coming,

that is God's wrath,

his anger.

So our job

is to tell people

the great news

that we have

so that others

won't have to face that.

So in thinking

about great expectations,

we may have expectations

for our lives

as Christians,

for our lives

in what we might do

in business

with our friends,

for those who may be

Christians

a shorter time.

Maybe we thought

it was going to be

all hunky-dory.

But let me tell you,

we may have

great expectations,

but in fact

there's a greater reality

that we are living for God

and we have an eternity

to spend with him.

And even in the midst

of suffering

we can have joy.

so I just want to leave

a challenge.

Are you safe?

Is your trust

in Jesus,

in his life,

death,

and resurrection?

If it is,

then yes,

you're safe.

But if not,

then you may be

in danger

of God's anger

for not living

as he wants you to.

So like I said,

great expectations

for our lives,

but the truth

is it's better

than we can imagine

because we're living

for God

and we get to be

with him.

Okay,

so let's pray.

Amen.

Father,

thank you

that you give us

your word.

It's not a human message.

It's from you,

the creator

of the heavens

and the earth.

You speak to us

and ultimately

that message

of salvation.

Thank you for that.

Thank you for that

good news

that you've given to us.

Lord,

please help us

to be people

who allow your word

to work in our lives.

help us

not to neglect it

and Lord,

we're sorry

for when we do.

Father,

I pray that you

would help us

to face

the reality

of suffering

in this life

with joy.

Please give us

that joy

when it's not natural.

We know it's from you

and we know

that you give it.

Please help us

through those times

where it isn't natural.

Help us to stand

firm for you

no matter what

we may face.

Thank you that

justice will be done.

We don't need to worry.

Help us to be prepared

for when that comes.

Thank you for

how we are safe

when we trust in you.

Help us to tell others

how they can be safe too.

Thank you Lord

for the wonderful reality

that we have in store,

the wonderful future.

Help us to cling to that

knowing that's all we need

no matter what's going on.

Thank you for helping me.

Please help us to live

as you want us to today.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

We're going to sing

in response

Be Thou My Vision

O Lord of My Heart

I guess there's a continuation

on our prayer

that the Lord

would be our vision

for our life

and for how

we should live.

Let's stand together

as we sing.