Appreciating the Hand of God
1 Thessalonians • Sermon • Submitted
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There’s a tract in our tract rack entitled, “Use the Bible that God Uses.” I encourage you to pick it up and read it sometime. It is titled to grab your attention and make you think…and many may think that the title is making an outrageous claim! Yet when you open the tract and begin to read it, you quickly understand why it’s titled as it is. Not only that, you but you find that the claim it is making isn’t outrageous at all.
The tract reveals how God has done many mighty works to further His spiritual kingdom, using the Authorized King James Bible. God uses that English Bible to accomplish His work! He doesn’t use the NIV or the ESV or any other (per)version to save souls, to start Scriptural churches, and to train men for the ministry. People may derive some personal benefit from reading those other versions, but God doesn’t use those versions to accomplish His work of the Great Commission in the world today. He uses His pure Word, not a corrupted Word. The tract also lays out known facts that direct our attention to the KJV—at the exclusion of all other versions in circulation today— as the pure, perfect Scriptures in the English language. God uses this Bible; so should we!
I bring this up as a way of introducing the topic for tonight’s message. As it is with Bible versions, so it may be with many other things in the world. How can we know when it is God working, and when it is something else? How can we know when something is an instrument of God for good, or a tool of the devil for evil? How can we know when the hand of God is at work in our lives, or just circumstantial coincidence? Just like the tract directs the reader’s attention to what has been done through the use of the KJV, our text tonight directs our attention to the results of the work of God’s servants. This message is entitled, “Appreciating the Hand of God.” Only God can do His work! May He make us more aware of His work and His instruments; they are both part of His Hand.
1 Thess. 1:1-2:13
As you’ll remember, we read and examined nearly all of chapter one last week. Since this is a continuous letter, it is helpful to avoid breaking it into pieces as much as possible. Last week’s text complements the text this week.
As I mentioned last time, this epistle is generally pleasant and positive. There is exhortation and instruction, but not much correction, and perhaps nothing that could be considered rebuke. In fact, approximately half of the letter is spent highlighting the spiritual success of the church in Thessalonica, and also rehearsing the Godly way in which Paul, Silas and Timothy preached and taught the people in the beginning! These are the topics of tonight’s text.
I. Acknowledging the Hand of God
I. Acknowledging the Hand of God
If we’re going to appreciate the hand of God at work, we must first be able to recognize it! Acknowledging His hand is a prerequisite.
A. Where we are now
A. Where we are now
Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;
Paul is demonstrating gratitude—which is important for Christians to have!—but he is also highlighting evidence of the hand of God. Where are you tonight, Christian? Do you deserve to be there? For that matter, where are you tonight, lost person? Have you gotten all you deserve? Neither have I.
Psa. 68:19 — “Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loadeth us with benefits, Even the God of our salvation.” Have you taken time today to thank God that you’re here, and not where you deserve to be?
Paul is careful to point out the many ways that God has changed the lives of these church members in Thessalonica. He acknowledges their spiritual virtues, works, and growth.
And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost: So that ye were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia.
1 Thess. 1:9b says, “...how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;”
But even though these are positive things in our text, the fact is that taking an honest look at where we are right now can be difficult for us. It can be difficult for a number of reasons:
It tends to be skewed because we are usually focused on our biggest hardship at the moment; this often prevents gratitude
It may be inaccurate because of pride, either “regular” or inverted.
Regular: “I’m doing so much better than that person...” Inverted: “I’m so much worse than anyone else. I’m a tough case. God’s got a lot more work to do in me than in most people.”
And there may be more reasons. But Satan doesn’t mind; as long as we fail to appreciate where God has brought us, the devil is happy! When did you last thank God for all the ways that He has made you more like Himself, and you listed some ways? If we don’t praise God for His mighty works, we fail to bring Him glory!
The psalmist says 4 times in Psalm 107, “Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, And for his wonderful works to the children of men!” May we praise God for what He has already done, and is continuing to do! We need to acknowledge His hand at work.
B. What we are naturally
B. What we are naturally
Of course, we might fail to fully acknowledge what the hand of God has done, if we don’t acknowledge what we are naturally. We are wicked and depraved and vile. We are ungodly. We are sinners. There’s no sugarcoating it! Ephesians 2 profoundly acknowledges God’s hand at work.
And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Just as two complementing flavors can cause the tongue to better appreciate both, so does the remembrance of our own sin, the destruction it caused, and the hopelessness it left, cause us to better acknowledge God’s mighty hand at work in our lives, AND the depths of our sin. If God removed His hand from us, we would return to those depths again!
Romans 3:9-20
Do you see the depravity and bondage in these verses? Have you forgotten, Christian, that this is the mire out of which God saved you? If you have, take some time to meditate on the works of your own heart and flesh. Don’t fail to acknowledge what you are naturally—all by yourself, with no one to blame but yourself. And without God, we would be all by ourselves. May we never fail to acknowledge the blessed Hand of God at work in our lives, bringing us to where we are, out of the vile depths of sin!
II. Analyzing the Hand of God
II. Analyzing the Hand of God
After Paul spent some time remembering and appreciating God’s work in the lives of the Thessalonians, he turns their attention to him and his companions in ministry—Silvanus and Timotheus. On the surface, this is a bit curious…and perhaps even seems a bit arrogant to our minds.
For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.
For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing. For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;
For yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto you, that it was not in vain: But even after that we had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention. For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile:
Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe:
I admit, it sounds a little bit like Paul is bragging. (“It’s not bragging if it’s true.” — This is mostly false!) The Holy Spirit inspired these words to the Thessalonian church. Were they accurate? (The Bible contains lies spoken by Bible characters.) Did Paul speak these things in sincere rehearsal of what happened, and how God worked? As we’ll see, this is the case. How can we properly appreciate the Hand of God at work? We need to know how to analyze His hand at work, to see elements of His character.
In his description of their ministry, Paul tells us some important details about him and his companions, Silas and Timothy.
No friends of the world — 1 Thess. 2:2a
Bold to preach the Gospel — vs. 2b
Ready to endure resistance to the Gospel — vs. 2c
Exhortation was honest, pure, and sincere — vs. 3
Work was done to please God — vs. 4a
Ministers were accountable to God — vs. 4b
Used realistic language — vs. 5a
Did not serve out of covetousness — vs. 5b
Did not seek man’s praise (though it would have been attainable) — vs. 6
Ministered gently, out of love — vs. 7
Sacrificed dearly for others, out of love — vs. 8
Experienced great labor and anguish to serve God and others — vs. 9
Ministry was open to scrutiny — vs. 10a
Lived a Christ-like life before others — vs. 10b
Ministered in many ways, however was needed — vs. 11a
Demonstrated insistence and commitment for the saints to live according to truth — vs. 11b
Lifted up Christ as the reason for it all — vs. 12
All this brought the results of REAL holiness, REAL victory, and REAL resistance from the devil! — vs. 13-14
III. Appreciating the Hand of God
III. Appreciating the Hand of God
How can we properly appreciate the hand of God at work in our lives? The human heart is “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” In tandem with the devil, our deceitful heart will influence us in uncounted wicked directions. We may be ungrateful for what we have; we may be proud of what we have; we may be complacent, thinking we’ll always have it; we despise those who don’t have it. And there are many other possibilities.
Here are three things we must not forget, and if we remember them daily, it will help us to appreciate the Hand of God that is at work in our lives.
1. Don’t forget what you have
1. Don’t forget what you have
In the first couple of chapters in 1 Thessalonians, Paul repeatedly refers to God’s work in the lives of these saints.
Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;
Work of faith, labour of love, and patience of hope. That sounds a lot like 1 Cor. 13:13!
And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
Are these in your life? Don’t forget them; don’t overlook them!
Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.
Don’t forget your salvation!
And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost: So that ye were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing.
This describes “good ground hearers.” Praise God if this is true of you!
For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
Victory over enslaving sin and false worship, and looking for “that blessed hope.” What a wondrous testimony of the work of God! Is this what God has done in you? Has He done similarly miraculous things to rescue you from the pit and mire of sin? Don’t forget His gracious and goodness to you!
The story of what God has done in our lives ought to be our favorite story to tell. Some of us may tell of addicting behaviors and hopelessness from which Christ rescued us, but all the saved have been rescued from damnation and judgment, and we all may tell of the awesome things He has done in us since salvation. If you’re saved tonight, dear listener, don’t forget what you have!
2. Don’t forget what others need
2. Don’t forget what others need
After Christians have been saved a while, they can lose sight of where they were, and they can forget that others are still in great need.
In 2 Kings, Ben-hadad, king of Syria, had besieged the city of Samaria. After the city’s supplies had run out, starvation was rampant. People were paying a lot of money to eat donkey heads and dove droppings. (2 Kings 6:25) Mothers were eating their children. (2 Kings 6:26-29) Let’s pick up the story in 2 Kings 7.
2 Kings 7:1-11
These lepers had discovered more riches than they could ever imagine or use! At first they were overcome with greed and self-preservation before they realized that others were dying.
We saints may become occupied with building a comfortable earthly life. We learn how to balance different pursuits that we choose, and we give time to family, to our job, to church, and to ourselves. We soothe our conscience with just enough dedication and sacrifice, while still leaving ourselves enough to satisfy our desires…but in our moderate, reasonable, balanced lifestyle, we have forgotten that we are feasting on abundant, eternal provisions of God, and there are people out there who are eating donkey’s heads and bird droppings. They are cannibalizing each other in an attempt to just survive. And do you know what the worst part is? You and I used to be one of them! We used to have the same hopelessness and condemnation! Like the lepers, may we say, “We do not well: this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace.” You and I won’t fail to appreciate the Hand of God in our lives when we remember what others need.
3. Don’t forget what you need
3. Don’t forget what you need
After remembering what you have, and remembering what others need, don’t forget what you still need.
From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
Peter and 10 of the other apostles were saved; yet they had nowhere to go if they left Christ. Only He has the words of eternal life. We all still need what He has for us!
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
We need the grace and truth of God in our lives!
Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
A clear understanding of how flawed and insufficient we are will help us appreciate the Hand of God. He is working to make His children into Christ’s image. What has He done in you lately? If you can’t think of much growth that has happened, perhaps you have lost sight of what you need.
There’s one last area in which the Thessalonians are a good example to us. When they saw the hand of God working in their lives, they simply submitted to it. THAT’S the secret of their growth.
For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.
When you and I appreciate—to value, and to be thankful for—the Hand of God in our lives, it will be evident in our spiritual lives. God’s hand works in many ways—through circumstances, through His people, through Scripture, and through His Spirit. Is God’s Hand at work in your life? Who is He using? As the Thessalonians had seen, God used Paul, Silas and Timothy to bring the light of the Gospel into their hearts. They heard the truth, they saw the hand of God, and they submitted to His work. May we be so responsive!