Sermon Tone Analysis

INTRODUCTION:

Interest:

We all have duties that we have to perform; things such as mowing the grass, emptying the dishwasher, taking out the garbage and so on.

At times, though, duties can take on a special significance.

Think of a soldier who is given a message that must get through because the lives of other men in the unit depend on it.

I remember reading the book, “Lone Survivor,” a true story about a team of four Navy seals pinned down by the Taliban in the mountains of Afghanistan.

This story was later made into a movie and the particular event that I am thinking of was depicted very graphically.

Massive numbers of enemy forces were converging on the location of this unit and a couple of them had already been injured.

They were unable to get a call out to base, though, while hiding in the rocks because signal was getting blocked by the stone.

The leader of the unit determined that their only hope lay in getting word back to base that they were under attack so he went out into the open, under fire, to make the call.

He was shot several times as he was making the call and died as he finished it.

His message was important enough that he was willing to give his life to make sure it went through.

Involvement:

There are certain duties that are so important that they are worth giving our lives, if necessary, in fulfillment of them.

This morning we are going to look at one that should be that central for each of us.

Context:

We are entering into the second chapter of Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonian church this morning.

Paul has expressed his thankfulness to God for the salvation and the perseverance in the gospel in the midst of opposition that these young believers have displayed.

It was good news to hear that they were remaining faithful to the gospel.

Paul, though, is never one to just relax and leave things as they are…he knows that the opposition that these believers are facing has the potential so impeded the Gospel lifecycle that is designed to bring glory to God.

He also seems to understand that because he and his companions had to leave so quickly after their short time in Thessalonica that there are several topics that he did not manage to cover as he would have liked.

The remainder of this letter deals addressing these things.

There is no major doctrinal or practical problem currently in this young church, but the potential is no doubt there, so Paul addresses a number of areas to sort-of fertilize their gospel soil so that the gospel lifecycle will continue with great vitality.

Preview:

Today, as you can see we are going to look at the first 4 verses of the second chapter.

In these verses, which really begin a section that runs through a good portion of this chapter Paul returns to a topic he mentioned in passing in the previous chapter—the events that occurred while he was with them a few months earlier when he came to the city to proclaim the gospel.

From the tone of the verses it seems as if there had been some questions raised by the opposition as to Paul’s motivations when he, along with Silas and Timothy, arrived in the city and began preaching the gospel.

Paul sets out to address the rumors that apparently had been launched by his opponents…remember, he was chased out of town by Jewish hatred of his message…he sets out to address these rumors; and in the process manages to provide us with several important lessons.

In fact, we really can praise God that Paul faced such opposition because it resulted in this section in this letter, which has been used by God to minister to His church for nearly 2,000 years.

Application

Even this simple truth should inform us that whenever we face various types of trials, we really have no idea how they might be designed by God to fit into His larger plan of building his church and bringing glory to His name.

The lesson that we can learn from the four verses that we are going to look at this morning is that our response to trials and opposition is to simply go about our duty…do what God would have us to do which specifically revolves around proclaiming the gospel message.

The way in which I would word the lesson contained in our verses today is simply: Proclaiming the Gospel message is our sacred duty.

Application

We may not be soldiers in the armed services of our country, but we are soldiers none-the-less.

We have been given a message and that message must get through to those who need to hear it.

Our duty is to deliver that message.

Proclaiming the Gospel message is our sacred duty.

Let’s read our four verses this morning.

The way we have these verses translated in our NASB Bible, we have two sentences.

Both sentences begin with the word “for” showing that they are explaining something and each sentence has two parts split by the word “but.”

Understanding how these verses lay out really is as simple as observing those two structural clues…we have two main points with two sub-points each.

Application

Normally I don’t mention such grammatical elements because I don’t want to make you think that you all overslept and somehow ended up in school on a Monday.

Yet, I do think it is helpful once in a while to point out the kinds of things that you can observe on your own during your own bible reading which will help you read with greater understanding.

Prepositions like the word “for” and conjunctions like the word “but” are helpful words to observe as we read.

Transition from introduction to body:

Proclaiming the Gospel message is our sacred duty.

This morning we have two points the support this main idea.

The point that we find in the first two verses is that…

BODY:

I. We must boldly proclaim the Gospel message, vv.

1–2.

The idea of boldness is found in the second verse, “we had boldness in our God.”

Paul is appealing to the example that he and the other men set when they arrived in Thessalonica to make his point.

Twice in these first two verses Paul reminds the Thessalonians that they themselves know the reality of the situation that he is referring to…they had witnessed the very things that Paul is mentioning…they had seen the boldness by which Paul, Silas, and Timothy proclaimed the Gospel message.

Illustration

Think about it; it is one thing for a person to claim boldness, but it is an entirely different thing for others to witness it.

We have had several rather well-known people in the past few years who have been caught making claims of boldness…they have claimed to have been engaged in battles and under fire in dangerous situations as part of their personal history only to have it come to light later that they were not even in the military or that the event that was claimed as a personal experience of bravery never happened.

For good reason, people may doubt claims of boldness.

Yet, do you think any of the people on the street in Ohio a couple of weeks ago when that gunman opened fire doubt the boldness of the police officers who ran toward the gunman as they were fleeing.

Will any of us who saw the security video that captured the policemen engaging the gunman while people were fleeing literally all around them question their boldness?

The Thessalonians had personally observed the boldness that Paul is referring to here; they had seen and heard him, along with the other two men proclaim the Gospel message.

Transition:

So, what are the sub-points that we can observe under this main point.

Well, I want to take what comes out of the second part of the sentence first; from verse 2 we can learn that…

A. Our bold proclamation will produce opposition.

Why was the boldness of the missionaries so remarkable?

Because it was in the context of real opposition.

Paul reminds them that when he and Silas arrived…Timothy seems to have somehow escaped the worst of it…when they arrived in Thessalonica, they were coming right out of a severe beating and mistreatment in Philippi.

The account is recorded in Acts 16; Paul and Silas were arrested, beaten, and thrown in prison because of opposition resulting from their gospel proclamation.

This was completely illegal, mind you, because both men were Roman citizens and by law were to be spared such treatment…but it had happened anyway.

An official Roman beating with rods was no small matter.

No doubt when Paul and Silas arrived in Philippi they were still recovering from it.

The Thessalonians certainly learned about what had transpired in Philippi, but they also observed that the missionaries immediately began preaching in their city as well; the fear of another possible beating did not impede them one bit.

These Thessalonians…who, remember, became believers through the preaching they heard and observed…also witnessed opposition arrive in their city.

The opposition grew until essentially Paul and company were accused of treason against the Roman Empire and had to flee town again.

Yet, through it all, they had observed that these three men continued to boldly proclaim the Gospel message.

Application

Truly, the lesson for us is real simple…we can expect that proclamation of the Gospel message will still produce opposition.

We really do need to take Jesus’ words to his disciples in Luke 21:17 to heart, “and you will be hated by all because of My name.”

The world is in rebellion against God.

People naturally are shaking their feast at God and saying, “I am my own god; I will not bow to another.”

Proclaiming that they will indeed bow before Him someday because He truly is God and they are not will produce opposition.

We must expect it.

The question that we really need to ask ourselves is what will we do when the opposition comes.

Will we take our lumps, pick ourselves up, and keep right on proclaiming the Gospel message or will we “learn” from our first uncomfortable experiences and keep our heads down by not bringing the Gospel up?

I fear that we too many of us have become soft that we will not be able to face real opposition.

I say that because few of us are boldly proclaiming Christ now.

We are neglecting our duty without even facing severe opposition.

Transition:

Our bold proclamation will produce opposition.

We need to say, “Bring the opposition on; Proclaiming the Gospel message is our sacred duty!”

We must say this because we need to also observe…backing up to verse 1…

B. Our bold proclamation will produce fruit.

Essentially Paul is saying, “Sure, you know that our proclamation produced serious opposition both in Philippi and again in Thessalonica, but you also know that it was worth it because you believed.

Who better to affirm the truth as well as the value of our boldness that you!”

The word that we have translated at the end of verse 1 as “vain” essentially carries the idea that their efforts were not hollow; the results were not empty or vain.

The results of their activities were an accomplished fact; their proclamation of the Gospel “was not in vain.”

The proof of that statement was the very people holding and listening to this letter.

We could metaphorically translate this as “our coming to you was not fruitless.”