Devotional Materials. Week Commencing Sunday 20th November 2022
Opening Verses
“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” Genesis 1:31
“O Lord our Lord, how glorious is your name in all the earth! High above the heavens your majesty is praised.” Psalm 8
Let’s worship the Lord together, remembering he is our Creator, and what he has created brings us much blessing.
Hymn
“How great Thou art” Piano. MP 506
Stuart K Hine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bnSX5W57yg
Opening Prayer
Lord we thank you that Creation speaks of your power and greatness. It also speaks of your goodness towards us. The blessings of marriage, friendship, family. Created gifts of food and drink. You have generously given us much comfort and blessing.
Thank you too for giving us your word by which we receive knowledge of you and your ways. We desire that your ways would indeed be known, increasingly by ourselves, but also that more may know what you have revealed about yourself and your ways through the Bible.
In our society many are ignorant of the Scriptures. In the words of 2 Kings 22, we confess “We have not obeyed your word, nor heeded what is written in the scriptures. We repent with all our heart, and humble ourselves before you: in your mercy forgive us, grant us your peace and the strength to keep your laws; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen”
Almighty God we thank you for the gift of your holy word. May it be a lantern to our feet, a light to our paths, and a strength to our lives. Take us and use us to love and serve all people in the power of the Holy Spirit and in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Reading. Psalm 111
That Psalm speaks wonderfully of God’s provision. His provision to us through his wonderful works in Creation. His sustaining of our lives. And the provision of his precepts- the Scriptures, the word of God. This Psalm says the Lord’s precepts are ‘trustworthy’ and that all who follow his precepts ‘have good understanding’. God has provided us with His Word: not only because it reveals to us truth about him and his eternal purposes, but also his word is given to us so we live right while we are here. As we live by his word we grow in wisdom and we grow strong.
The proper response to God’s provision is gratitude and thankfulness. Let’s continue to praise and give him thanks in song:
Hymns
“The Lord’s my Shepherd” Piano. MP 1008
Stuart Townend
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upRoR7ej9Ns
“Give thanks with a grateful heart” Piano. MP 170
Henry Smith
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0iBQTnerxE
“Thank you for saving me” Guitar MP 937
Martin Smith
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfvnUb3Ai4M
Prayers
God of revelation, we thank you that you are not a silent God, isolated from humanity, leaving us to guess and speculate about the things that matter. We pray for those who serve you by studying manuscripts and clarifying texts: for scholars and preachers who wrestle with the words of life for the building up of your Church, for linguists, translators, and publishers who continue to serve the cause of your Gospel by making the Bible available to more and more people
We pray for all ministers who preach your word and all pastors in our community. We thank you too for evangelists and missionaries you take your gospel to places home and abroad. Please continue to inspire each one and give them strength and energy by your Holy spirit to maintain the vision; that is the importance of your word and its life changing power and value, along with the ability to endure and serve you in the ministries to which we have been called.
Lord create in us a hunger for your word, a thankfulness for your gospel and a faithfulness to your commands, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Lord God and Heavenly Father, we give thanks that Your Son Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords, and that He rules and reigns over all. When we look at the troubles and suffering of this world, and especially the persecution of your people in many lands, it is easy for us to forget that our Saviour is in sovereign control of all things. Please help us to remember and take comfort in this truth, and to give Him the honour and praise due to His royal Name, in which we pray. (Revelation 19:16; Acts 4:24, 28) (Barnabas Aid)
We will face opposition in this life for belonging to Christ; whatever we face- whether ‘streams of abundance’ or a ‘desert place’, whether the sun is shining or we are suffering, we still say ‘Blessed be your name’
Hymn
“Blessed be your name” MP 1036
Beth and Matt Redman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rw4H5t3TwHM
Reading. 1 Thessalonians 2:13-16
13 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. 14 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 15 who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to everyone 16 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.a
Sermon. “The Word at Work”
There was controversy over a news reader who decided to change an item of news because she didn’t agree with it. Quite rightly she was reprimanded because her decision wasn’t authorised by her employers and editors. It was their job to decide what was to be said on the news broadcast, not hers. Her job was to be the mouthpiece, to clearly present and articulate the message she had been given. You could say today’s news reader is a modern day herald. Someone who has received a message from a higher authority and whose job it is to present that message to others.
The New Testament word for preaching is kerysso which means to act like a herald and make a public proclamation. Twice in his first letter to the Thessalonians in Chapter 2 Paul uses this idea of his being a herald: The phrase in chapter 2 verse 9 “We preached the gospel of God to you” and here in verse 13 he refers to the word of God “which you heard from us”
So, the herald passes on a received tradition from a higher authority. He proclaims what he has been given. Paul sees himself as a herald. He has a message given to him by God. Now as God’s herald he proclaims God’s word.
It’s important that the preacher sees himself as a herald. The preacher has been entrusted with proclaiming God’s Word (verse 4) He is not at liberty to tamper with it. He must not distort it in an attempt to be a “people pleaser” He must not leave out those parts that might offend and only stress the parts that will please e.g. always stress grace and never mention holiness. Neither should he hunt out “novel” or supposedly “original” ideas that may have resonance with our culture but are actually alien to the biblical text. Typically that kind of preacher is always referring to different “theologies” rather than declaring the Truth. This only draws attention to himself and his supposed cleverness. The preacher must not be the centre of attention. Christ must increase and we must decrease. The true preacher is a herald of the Word.
The preacher must faithfully preach the Word. This should not be confused with the fact there are different ways of preaching the word. Preaching manuals consider the most accurate method is expository preaching. That is systematically expounding a passage week by week as the preacher works through a book of the Bible. This is what we’re doing on Sunday mornings as we work through 1 Thessalonians together. Another way is thematic preaching. That is tracing a theme more broadly across a variety of biblical passages and verses.
Another approach is called inductive preaching. The idea here is to start with a question or issue people are already thinking about and then bring a biblical perspective to it. This is more testing for the preacher in maintaining their integrity as a herald of God’s Word. There is an immediate appeal because these are issues people are already thinking about. On the other hand the preacher has to be clear they are coming at it from a biblical perspective and not merely regurgitating what the newspapers or social sciences or political or psychological bodies say on the issue. This kind of preaching has some value, although I am convinced that when a person begins with the Word of God- when we are continually open say to expository preaching-then over time that shapes a true perspective on how we should think and act as Christians for all matters of life.
Not only must the preacher be convinced of the need to proclaim God’s Word, the local Church must accept it as such if they are to benefit: verse 13: Paul says of the church at Thessalonica: “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”.
The Thessalonians respected Paul’s apostolic authority and regarded his teaching as the word of God. Paul does not rebuke the Thessalonians for regarding his message too highly, actually he commends them for having recognised and accepted it as God’s word. In the same way our New Testament is Scripture: The books of the New Testament were considered as such because they carried this same apostolic approval. Indeed we are to regard both Old and New Testaments- the Bible- as God’s written word. The Old Testament is authenticated by the Prophets and the New Testament is authenticated by the apostles. The Bible was inspired by the Spirit of God and written by men of God who were used by the Spirit. It is essential we have this same high view of Scripture, we appreciate it in this way.
Why? Appreciating and receiving Scripture as such is the only way we will be spiritually transformed as God intends: verse 13, Paul says of the Thessalonian believers “…you accepted it…as it actually is, the word of God, which is at working you who believe”.
Since the Bible is of divine origin when it is received it has a transforming power in the person who has received it. When you take time to meditate on a verse or portion of Scripture, when you are struck by a point from a sermon- that is God at work in your heart and mind changing you, transforming your outlook and life though his divinely inspired word.
No other book will have this effect. A teaching book might unearth a biblical insight that benefits your soul, just as a preacher would, but it is the biblical material itself that speaks and transforms in this way since it is of divine origin. No human word can transform as God’s word transforms.
I for one don’t want anything less than that in my life. I don’t want any mere human being telling me what to believe or do. We are all in the same boat, we’re born we live we die. However qualified a human authority may be in the eyes of others, however clever or persuasive, he or she is still finite and therefore limited. No human being has any right to tell another person what to believe or how to act. You and I were created by God. We belong to Him. Our lives run properly, we think right and act right, when we receive His word. When our spirits are nourished by God’s word this in turn positively influences our thinking, our emotions and our actions. We are designed to hear from Him. We shouldn’t settle for anything less.
It is complete arrogance for a mere human being to set themselves up in God’s place and pretend they have something to say that is better than God’s revealed word to us. Their substitute word will not nourish us but only deflect us from what we need. The substituted human word will only give us food poisoning and bring break down to our lives. This is why Jesus says in John 10: 8, 9 “All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved”. Only Jesus is the Son of God. He is the Living Word and he has given us the written word through his apostles. Those who come in their own name- whether religious leaders, philosophers, psychiatrists, scientists, politicians, novelists, celebrities- these mere human authorities cannot compete with Christ. They cannot provide the essential spiritual nourishment our souls desperately need. Only those who come in Christ’s name and who proclaim His word – not their own- can bring that benefit to us. Jesus says in John 7:17, 18: “If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. He who speaks on his own does so to gain honour for himself, but he who works for the honour of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him”.
A true Church has this high view of Scripture. The Scriptures are quite literally God’s word. Do you value the Scriptures like that? Perhaps you appreciate God’s word but are you appropriating it, receiving it into your inner being? When Paul says the Thessalonians “heard” the word, it has this strong sense of welcoming it into their lives. When you receive the word like that spiritual growth takes place in your life.
Would you rather have your Bible than food? Job said, “I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food” (Job 23:12). Would you rather have God’s word than money? The believer who wrote Psalm 119 made it clear that God’s word meant more to him than “all riches” (14), and “thousands of gold and silver” (72). Some people neglect attending Church because they can make more money working on a Sunday. I’m not talking about situations where their job stipulates they must work on a Sunday, but where they choose to do so to make more money. Would you rather have God’s word than sleep? Psalm 119:148 “My eyes stay open through the watches of the night that I may meditate on your promises”. The Jews had three night watches: sunset to 10, 10 to 2 and 2 until dawn. The psalmist gave up sleep three times a night that he might spend more time with the word. But some Christians cannot get out of bed on Sunday morning to hear the word proclaimed and taught.
Some Christians, who are spiritually malnourished, complain that their Christian lives are going nowhere, that the temptations and pressures around them to conform are too much, that they are continually wrestling with questions and doubts, they are depressed. They are forever anxious and fearful. They don’t know what God wants them to do or how to proceed in life. We all have such feelings from time to time but these should not dominate our lives. Consistent nourishment- feeding from God’s word will bring us back to spiritual health. Faith comes from hearing the word. And Satan and his lies can be resisted through proper use of Scripture- he has to go. If you neglect reading and meditating on the Scripture, if you neglect God’s ordained means of receiving Bible teaching and preaching in your local church- then of course you will be defeated, you will have neglected God’s word which alone can nourish your spirit.
“The Fight” by John White is a manual written to help Christians grow in their faith. So important is our need to be nourished by God’s word that he suggests in addition to attending church services and house groups, you should also free up 3 hours a week to personally study the word for yourself.
Again we’re back to priorities in life.
Here is the TV addict’s version of Psalm 23:
“The TV is my shepherd, my spiritual life shall want.
It makes me sit down and do nothing for the cause of Christ
It demandeth my spare time.
It restoreth my desire for the thing of the world.
It keepeth me from studying the truth of God’s word.
It leadeth me in the path of failure to attend God’s house.
Yea, though I live to be a hundred, I will fear no rental.
My “telly” is with me, it’s sound and vision comfort me.
It prepareth a programme for me, even in the presence of visitors.
Its volume shall be full.
Surely comedy and commercials shall follow me all the days of my life
And I will dwell in spiritual poverty forever”
Make the hearing of the word and the receiving of it your top priority. Then you will discover it is God’s word, by its transforming power in your life.
Paul knew God’s word was at work in the Thessalonian believers. The reason he knew was because they were showing the same marks of faith other new churches had shown. In particular the ability to be strong despite facing persecution. Verse 14: “For you brothers became imitators of God’s churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus: you suffered from your own countrymen the same things those churches suffered from the Jews”.
The Thessalonian church was becoming more like these other churches unwittingly rather than deliberately. Their ability to withstand opposition came from renewed minds, informed by God’s word and empowered by the Holy Spirit. All true churches will display a certain similarity to one another because of the work of God’s word and His Spirit among them. All these churches had this in common: that they received the word and were prepared to suffer for it. Verses 15 and 16 detail the nature of the persecution. Paul describes how Christ, Paul himself and the Christian Cause in general were violently opposed by unbelieving Jews.
Have you ever wondered how you would cope if overt persecution of believers began in Britain? We know God gives grace for every situation: We read of persecuted believers who try to communicate to us their sense of weakness in such situations but have found a special enabling and even a joy in Him. The glory goes to God that they stand strong and through their witness even their enemies are sometimes brought to Christ. But we are still filled with admiration for those in church history who have stood firm for Christ despite the cost.
Today in many parts of the world, especially in Islamic countries and those that are still Communist Christians endure much because of their faithfulness to Christ. (See websites ‘Open Doors’ ‘Barnabas Aid’, ‘Release International’, ‘Christian Solidarity Worldwide’)
Persecution from unbelievers is nothing new and throughout the New Testament we are warned of the consequences of living in a world which hated Christ and will hate his followers. In the West persecution can come in more subtle forms. One man told me that when he was a student his work in Religious Education was marked down because he argued that Jesus miracles were literally true- this at a time when the liberal denial of the supernatural was at its strongest. A couple mentioned that their grown son and daughter told them they could have been wealthy if they hadn’t gone into Christian work. Subtle forms of pressure can be wearing whether from educators, family, employers, social services and pressure groups. But there are more sinister overtones today. With the growing atheism in this country (Lumino Project/YouGov poll 2018: 49.45% ‘no religion’) there comes greater disparity between the Biblical Christian outlook and the atheistic secular outlook on ethical, moral issues. To the point where some Christians are losing their jobs for their stand on what the Bible teaches. I would encourage you to familiarise yourself with what is going on through Christian organisations such as ‘Christian Concern’ and ‘The Christian Institute.’ These support Christians who face injustice in this country today.
Atheistic ideas are common currency in popular culture now. I heard Ben Elton- a comedian and novelist- promoting his book on BBC 1’s “The One Show”. He said his new novel attempted to counter the idea that if you “believed” in God that this was somehow a good thing. He thought virtue lay in what was reasonable rather than what was merely believed. No one challenged him on this view. Because of the extensive ignorance about Christianity in this Country someone like this is allowed to get away with what at one time would have been considered absurd.
So let’s challenge these ideas now. Doesn’t belief in God correlate with goodness and virtue? Clearly when society has been healthy and properly educated about the Christian Faith there has been respect for one of its central tenets- “love your neighbour”. Most people were aware that for someone to profess they were a Christian meant they were making a public commitment to show such love. They were aware that Christianity has been at the forefront of humanitarian causes such as literacy, hospitals, orphanages and the abolition of slavery and child labour. They knew that a professing Christian was seeking to adhere to a wider moral code which echoed in part something of the selfless giving of our Lord. So in many minds being a Christian and being a decent member of the community went together. On this basis many people in this Country thought it was a good thing to be a Christian- even if they were not Christians themselves.
The atheist on the other hand is making no such commitment to a virtuous code of conduct. Atheists can do as they like! The reality is that atheists are atheists because they do not wish to be fettered by God’s Moral Law, the Bible bears this out: “Your minds were separated from Christ because of your evil behaviour.” So in reply to Ben Elton, anyone in our society with a basic knowledge of Christian belief may still consider it a good thing to believe in God because they associate belief in God as motivation for and commitment to love for one’s neighbour.
So what’s the connection between atheism and virtue? Zilch. The foundation stone for the atheist is evolution. But you don’t get virtue or goodness from evolutionary philosophy which preaches ‘survival of the fittest’, in other words the weak go to the wall. In two and three weeks’ time on Saturday film shows we will look at the outworking of social Darwinism through the twentieth century and into the present day- namely the destruction of those deemed inferior, the devaluing of human life, the sexual chaos so prevalent today and hopelessness. None of that makes for virtue, it moves in the opposite direction.
No the basis for morality is God himself. His wonderful attributes. These shine out of Him and press in on all human beings, whether they believe in God or not. This is known as His moral law. In John’s Gospel Christ is described as the ‘Word who was with God and the Word was God’- ‘In him was life and that light was the light of all mankind’ (John 1:4, 5, Romans 2:14 15). God’s moral light in Christ, presses in on every human being that has ever lived and according to Romans speaks to us through our conscience. Sometimes the atheist obeys that moral light, sometimes he doesn’t, but his atheism cannot account for it.
The other mistake Elton makes is to draw a false distinction between what is reasonable and what is believed. Actually there are good evidences for the Christian faith. The fact is that Christianity is a historical faith. There were eye witnesses of Christ and his glory. People who didn’t make up stories but were radically changed by him and willing to give up their lives for the truth they had discovered- including the truth of the resurrection for which there are several major evidences. Atheism on the other hand, for all its claim to reason, is essentially negative and ultimately meaningless. According to its naturalistic evolutionary philosophy we are derived from pond scum and share its same fate. This does not make sense. It does not make sense of the clear evidences of a powerful intelligence far greater than our own in the Created Order. Next Saturday morning’s film showing you have opportunity to see a number of evidences for creation as described in Genesis. “Is Genesis History?” is a superb over view. It presents biblical, historical and scientific evidence for Creation and the world wide flood. You will see there that the claims of evolution do not hold up. Neither does atheism make sense of the higher yearnings and thoughts of our human experience. And it does not make sense of Christ. Atheism is not the embracing of reason but as Francis Schaeffer put it, an “Escape from Reason”.
Christians are persecuted and this is becoming more overt, less subtle in our own Country.
It is privilege though to be able to suffer for the Lord Jesus. Didn’t Jesus say that we should even rejoice and be glad when reviling and persecution come our way (Matt.5:10-12; see also 1 Pet.1:7)? To his persecuted children God gives the promise of sufficient grace for every situation (2 Cor.9:8) and the certainty that one day there will be the reward of not only salvation (Eph.2:8, 9) and a crown (Rev.2:10); but for the persecutors, there will be wrath. So we need to pray for such that they will be converted to Christ before the Day of Judgement.
And despite cynicism, criticism and opposition, we must not be silenced. Like Peter and John we must take the attitude: “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:19, 20).
One of the reasons Paul mentions that the other churches had been persecuted was to encourage the Thessalonians. He didn’t want them to think they were going through something unique or isolated.
And they had not been exterminated. They had been purified and grown stronger. Here is one of the great values of the local church: we stand together in times of difficulty and encourage one another. One reason Paul sent Timothy back to Thessalonica was to encourage the believers. A lonely Christian is very vulnerable, not least to the attacks of the devil. We need each other in the battles of life
Paul gave thanks for the Thessalonians
The Thessalonians had received the word. They were therefore able to endure persecution.
Do you have a high view of Scripture?
Will you set aside time to privately study it, make it your top priority?
Will you receive it into your life so it can work in you to renew your mind, nourish your inner being and make you spiritually strong?
It is always a great encouragement for a preacher to have a congregation that is seriously intent on hearing, heeding and heralding the word. Attendance upon and attentiveness to preaching by congregations is a great encouragement.
And we have seen the challenge, the real test that you and I believe God’s word is that we’re prepared to suffer for our convictions. The Thessalonian church had this in common with the churches in the region of Judea. All true believers and all true churches will have this in common. We all face some measure of opposition for our faith in Christ. But you and I must remember it as a privilege to suffer for the Lord Jesus Christ who left the splendour of heaven and came to die for you and me.
Further, we have the promise of great reward, while our persecutors must face God’s wrath. So we must not feel sorry for ourselves when evildoers appear to go from bad to worse, instead- and by God’s grace- we must be strong and play our part: We should speak up boldly for Christ. We must encourage one another in the battles we face. We should pray for our brothers and sisters in other lands, thrown in prison simply for their faith in Christ, and we must pray for our enemies that they come to their senses and so be saved.
Prayer
“Lord please fashion our lives- our minds and inner being by your word. We pray you would give us strength in times of trial and opposition to do what we know is true and right, in accordance with your word at work within us” Amen
Hymn
“Be thou my Vision” MP 51
Eleanor Hull
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VpSqAcLrDI
Blessing
May the Lord bless you and take care of you; may the Lord be kind and gracious to you; may the Lord look on you with favour and give you peace. Amen
David Barnes 20/11/22