In this uplifting episode, Bob George delves into the heartening messages delivered by Paul to the church in Thessalonica. As followers of Christ, we often find ourselves grappling with the pull of tradition versus the truth embodied in God’s unchanging Word. Join us as we navigate through Paul’s letters, illuminating the steadfast power of faith amidst challenges and the eternal struggle between adhering to man-made traditions or the divine truth of the Scriptures.
Welcome to Classic Christianity Radio with Bob George. Bob’s clear, timeless teachings on the complete forgiveness and unconditional love of Jesus Christ will transform your life as you learn about God’s amazing grace. Let’s join Bob as he teaches us from God’s Word.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, let’s all turn together to 1 Thessalonians 1. And we’re going to start in chapter 2, beginning there in verse 13. Paul is, in his first couple of chapters here, is giving encouragement to the church of Thessalonica, where these people were called, Paul had gone in and proclaimed the gospel, which he did all over that part of the world. And immediately following that, while the Judaizers would come in behind him, and again tried to put the people back under the law. And Paul was encouraging them for hanging in there tough, in essence of being able to hang on to what truth has been given. And so he said that you know that as he was dealing with them, that he dealt with them as a father deals with his own children. He encouraged them. He was comforting them, urging them to live lives that are worthy of the calling of the kingdom of God. So in verse 13, he says, we also thank God continually because when you receive the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men. If you mark your Bibles, you might want to put quotation marks around the word of men and the word of God. He said, you accepted that not as the word of men, but actually as it is the word of God, which is at work in all of you who believe. So he’s talking about two sources of information that you and I are exposed to. We’re exposed to the word of men and we’re exposed to the word of God. Now, you have all kinds of information that come from the word of men, don’t you? Most of our educational system comes from the word of men. You are taught in one thing when you go to school and you get a higher education. And regardless of the field that you’re in, things are continually changing. And so it may be that what you were taught in school 20 years ago is totally obsolete today. And that’s true in every field of endeavor except the word of God. Because the word of God never changes. It’s the same yesterday and today and forever. And will remain the same throughout all eternity. So you have the option as to what you’re going to listen to or in the final analysis, what’s going to be your final criteria for judging what truth is. Is it going to be the word of man or is it going to be the word of God? And we have that choice, don’t we? Which one I’m going to hang on to. In the religious realm that I think Paul was referring to here, you have tradition of man and then you have the word of God. Now again, as far as tradition was concerned, you had these hundreds of years of Jewish tradition and they had their tradition. And it was perceived many times as absolute truth. In other words, tradition took the place of truth, took the place of the word of God. You find the same thing is true today in Christianity, so to speak. You have the traditions of men that have superseded the word of God. You have things that are taught today in churches and denominations that are totally contrary to the word of God. In other words, tradition has taken over the place of truth. And so you’re listening to the word of men instead of the word of God. In my early days, I remember especially that, and again, where I came from, being a Catholic or a Protestant was not a big deal to anybody. That’s just where you went to church on Sunday. And thank God there wasn’t the animosity, in our little small town at least, there wasn’t animosity, it seemed like, toward anybody. We just kind of grew up and everybody blended together and nobody thought anything about anything. But I remember our very closest friend, and to this day, a lady, her name was Mary Reno. Her son was a professor, ultimately, of George Washington University. Her other son, Jimmy, is a world-renowned sculptor. She was a little Irish lady, tiny little lady, and just as Catholic as you could get. And Mary was a lady that worked with our family and Every Christmas, every Thanksgiving, why, Mary and Jimmy and Ray were at our home for Christmas dinner, the closest of friends. When I was in Germany, Mom and Dad didn’t get over to visit me, but Mary did, and came over and spent time with Amy and I while we were in Germany. That’s how close we were. Mary would have me to come to the Catholic Church with her, and as most of you know, I was in a lot of music, and I cannot tell you the number of times that I sat in the back where they sit in the back of the church with a choir and soloed Ave Maria. And it was just, that’s just the way things were. I couldn’t understand what that holy water was. I tried to wash my hands in it one day, but that didn’t work. But, you know, and then the ups and downs and ups and downs. And I’d think, Mary, you know, do you ever sit still here? And I thought those kind of things. But beyond that, we never thought anything of that. But I always remember their custom of not eating meat on Friday. How many of you came out of a Catholic background? Do you remember those days when you couldn’t eat meat on Friday? And I used to wonder where that came from. But that was a tradition of man, wasn’t it? Is there anything in the Bible about not eating meat on Friday? nothing about it at all, but it was the tradition of man that, quite frankly, they hung on to tenaciously. And that was one of those laws that you just didn’t break unless you were out of town. But when I see things like that, and, you know, then you’ve got the Baptists, and for years and years and years you couldn’t dance, you know. That was really bad. And then all of a sudden, why, they decided there at Baylor that you could dance. So it took all the fun out of dancing. And I told a guy the other day, that’s why I joined the Baptist church, so I wouldn’t have to dance. And they even messed that up on me. But you’ve got these traditions that people come up with that just make no sense at all, but it’s called the word of men. And if we don’t know what the Bible says, why then you have no idea whether I’m really listening to the word of men or whether I’m listening to the word of God. You just don’t have any way of knowing because you have no plumb line to make that determination, do you? And so he’s talking about here that you accepted God. What we as the apostles said to you, you accepted that message as if it was the word of God, not the word of men, but as the word of God. And it says that you, brothers, you became imitators of God’s churches in Judea. which are in Christ Jesus. And it said the way you did that was you suffered from your own countrymen in the same things that the churches suffered from the Jews who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. Now, it’s interesting to me that the Apostle Paul says, made such a bold statement as that. We today, in the interest of being politically correct and not saying things that would offend anybody, we talk about those that don’t want Jews persecuted because for years, a lot of the Gentile world would go up to Jews and say, you’re Christ-killers. How many of you ever remember hearing that in some place in school or whatever? You’re a Christ killer. Well, that’s very offensive. Not only offensive, but it’s a horrible thing to say to somebody because you had nothing to do with the killing of Christ in this generation. And so in order to probably sound more correct, but it is truth that we all killed Jesus. I killed Jesus. My sins are what called Jesus to go to a cross. And you had the incentive, you had the Jewish people, and when you say the Jewish people, you’re not talking about the mass of Jewish people, you’re talking about the leadership. You had the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the governing body that controlled every thought, in essence, of the Jewish people. They were the ones who told the Jewish people what to think and how to think, and therefore they thought it. Is that unusual for us to understand? Basically, and I’m not picking on Catholics, but when you were a Catholic, basically they told you what to think and how to think it, didn’t they? And that’s kind of, am I right on that? And that’s just kind of, what do I think? Well, tell me what to think and I’ll think it. I’ll thunk it. And so the issue is that what I’m going to think about religion, I’m going to find out from my leaders. And so those leaders were the ones who plotted the plot, right? to go to the Roman Empire and to convince the Romans to kill Jesus. They were the instigator, and the Gentile world pulled it off. So in other words, we were all involved, weren’t we? But I think here Paul, understanding what was behind that, because there would have been no way in the world… that the Romans would have killed Jesus on their own without somebody being behind it. There’s no way in the world that would have taken place. So he understood the fact that it was the vileness of this Jewish leadership, could have been Gentile leadership, but it happened to be Jewish leadership, that was behind the death of Christ to the point where he is able to say here that the Jews who killed the Lord Jesus Christ and the prophets and also drove us out. And so he included the fact that they were behind the scheme to kill Jesus, the Jewish leadership. And they were also behind the scheme of killing many of the prophets. And Jesus said that, did he not? You’ve killed the prophets. The people who come and proclaim the good news to you, you’ve killed them. You’ve wiped them out. And they also, he said, drove us out so that we could have no voice. They displease God and are hostile to all men. in their efforts to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they, the Gentiles, might be saved. So in other words, when you have people, or it talks about in the scripture that not only did they do evil, but they encouraged others to do evil. And you find that very true and you see that in what is called peer pressure. There’s an ad on right now, I just noticed on television the other day, where this girl, the mother is telling the little girl to get in the car and watch when she crosses the street. And she’s giving this little girl all kinds of great instruction. She gets in the back seat and someone’s offering her a smoke of marijuana. And what it’s saying is her mom hadn’t prepared her for how to handle that, hadn’t talked to her about it. But what the example of that is, is the fact of how when you’re doing evil, there’s a tendency to encourage others to do evil as well because you want company. If you’re practicing homosexuality, that’s why this movement, this huge movement, this agenda that is in the world today, whereby you’ve got, you know, the great cowboys out practicing homosexual. And you’ve got, if John Wayne was here, you’d have him in that camp. And where you want to get everybody accepting homosexuality. Well, accepting the practice of homosexuality is like accepting the practice of adultery, fornication, stealing. It’s sin. And the Bible calls it sin. They don’t call it alternate lifestyle. They call it what it is. It’s sin. But it’s amazing that if you’re involved in this, entrapped in this sin, that what you want to do is get more people involved in it so that you don’t feel so lonely. And, of course, with sin like adultery, you don’t have to because everybody’s doing it anyway. But the issue is that you’re, that’s what sin likes, company. Misery loves company. And so it’s that propensity that you have when you’re involved in sinful activity is to try to get other people involved in it as well. And that’s why the promotion of these type of things, that’s why a person taking drugs on his own wouldn’t be that big of a deal. But they’re going to be sure that you are tempted with the drugs. And on the school scene, this is especially true. I’m going to try to get as many kids involved in drugs as I can. Sometimes it’s a financial motive. Other times it’s just the fact I just want to get more people involved in this thing so that I don’t feel alone and don’t feel like a freak.
SPEAKER 01 :
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SPEAKER 02 :
And so it said that they displease. They’re hostile, it says, to all men. In other words, you do not have other people’s interest at heart when you’re out promoting sin, do you? You’re not looking out after the benefit of somebody else. You’re looking out after your own benefit. So you’re hostile to men in their efforts to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles. And so God’s goal for us It said it’s God’s will that none should perish and all should come to repentance. That’s his will. But is his will going to be fulfilled? Is it true that all of us are going to come to Christ? No. So, in other words, can his will be thwarted? Is it possible to thwart the will of God? Absolutely. If it wasn’t, we’d all be saved, wouldn’t we? Is it God’s will that we all give thanks in all things? For this is the will of God. Can that be thwarted? Can that thing come up and say, give thanks? You know what you’re talking about. I’m not going to give thanks for this. I’m hurting. And so God’s will could be thwarted. And we have to understand the truth of that. And so he said that in regard to these people who are out for one reason only, and that is to keep God’s will from being done. And in this particular case, God’s will for the Gentiles to be able to hear the good news of the gospel. It says they heap up their sins to the limit and the wrath of God has come upon them. And actually, it means fully have fully come upon them. But brothers, it says, when we were torn away from you for a short time in person, though not in thought, out of our intense longing, we made every effort to see you, for we wanted to come to you. Certainly I, Paul, did again and again, but Satan stopped us. Now guys, how does Satan stop you from things? Well, it talks about up here that That these people that killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and drove us out, they displeased God and are hostile to all men in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. So who does God use or who does Satan use to thwart the will of God? Who does he use, guys? People. People. Are we right or wrong? He can probably use other things. You know, he can get you sick and keep you from going to work and that type of thing. But basically, he’s going to use people. And how is he going to use us? By lying to us. In other words, he can use people very easily who do not know the word of God. How does God get the lost deceived? Because they are deceived. Why? They don’t have a clue as to what the Word of God says. Now, you get people who have just a smathering of knowledge of the Word of God. They’re the most dangerous. They know enough to be dangerous. And kind of, I laugh. at Bill O’Reilly that many of you have seen on Fox News and he’s got some very good sense on most things. But when he starts talking religion, I have to laugh because he’s just got a smathering of knowledge there that he’s dangerous. And people like that are dangerous. But if you don’t know whether you’re lost or saved, what the Word of God says, you’re subject to deception, aren’t you? You can be deceived very, very easily. And so people, well-meaning people, thinking they’re giving you good advice, are literally going contrary to the Word of God. Look at the Apostle Paul. How many times was he told by God, by what he thought God was saying, is to go into different parts of the world. And then his friends were saying, oh, don’t go in there. You’re going to be killed. Jesus, the same way. You’re not going to go into Jerusalem, are you? They’re all looking for you. Well, God was saying, that’s my destiny. And they were saying, no, no, Lord, we don’t want that to be your destiny. And so those were well-meaning people, but they were not speaking truth. And so he says here that Satan had stopped us. So in other words, in some way, in somehow, in some way, Satan had stopped them through people from getting to come to visit the people in Thessalonica. And so he says, what is our hope and our joy or the crown for which we glory in the presence of Jesus Christ when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and our joy. When God looks down on people, and again, I don’t think he’s impressed with the masses like we are. But when he looks down on a group of people and he sees a group of people that are walking by faith in Christ Jesus, trusting Christ Jesus with their life, and he looks down on them and he says to the people who have had anything to do ministering to them, those people are your joy. And that is really true. In this day and age, if you have people that you have discipled, your own children, if you have had the privilege of leading them into the path of righteousness, of being able to teach them about the Lord Jesus Christ, in many instances leading them to Christ at some point in their life, you have done the greatest thing that you could ever do for your child. There’s nothing that you could do for your child or your mate of any greater value then if the opportunity came for you to do so is to lead them to Christ Jesus, to lead them into a knowledge of Christ Jesus. You have literally been used of God to bring eternal salvation to your children and to those that you love. There’s no greater gift that you could give them. You could be a multimillionaire, give them all the money in the world, but if they don’t have Jesus, they’re going to die dead, rich and dead. rich in money, dead spiritually. And so it’s the greatest gift that you could ever give to the people that you love is to find out where they are spiritually and if they’re not saved and to know that they’re not saved and to talk to them individually till you do know whether they’re saved or not and then to try to lead them into a knowledge of Christ. Their ability to accept that is in their hands. It’s not in yours. But it is our responsibility to communicate the truth to these people. And so he’s saying here that you are our crown, you are our joy, you’re everything. At the end of your life, you look back and you say, who is your joy? Who’s your crown? It’s the people that you’ve touched with the gospel. And those are the people that you love. So he said, when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens. In other words, they’d been stopped enough to realize we’re not going to get through this barrier right now. And so he said, we sent Timothy, who is our brother and God’s fellow worker, in spreading the gospel of Christ to strengthen and encourage you in your faith so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. These different trials and tribulations that, again, have been put on these people in Thessalonica from the opposing body of people trying to stop this gospel. He said, you’ve been through a lot of trials and a lot of tribulation. And so you know quite well that we were disdained before them, that we were destined for them. In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. In other words, God said, this is something that’s in our destiny, that we’re going to be proclaiming Christ. And when you’re going to be proclaiming Christ, you’re going to run into opposition. That’s your destiny. If you’re going to be out in this world openly and proclaiming Christ, then look for persecution. It’s going to be a part of your life. Sooner or later, it’ll be a part of your life. How many have found that to be true? Persecuted in your home, possibly? Today, that would still be the case in many instances with Jewish people who come to Christ. And quite frankly, there are thousands upon thousands of Jewish people who are in Christ Jesus today. One of their fears is that when that occurs, I’m going to be disowned. And that happens many times. There’s many people who have come to Christ, gone back to their families and said, I became a Christian and they say, you’re dead. As far as I’m concerned, you’re dead. You’re no longer a part of our family. And that’s tough. And that would cause you to think twice, wouldn’t it? Before you went out and proclaimed that you’re in Christ Jesus. But if you’re in Christ Jesus, he said, you can do nothing less than to proclaim where you are. And so many times that happens. That can happen with being a Catholic or a Protestant. Hey, Mom and Dad, I came to Christ. You mean you’re not a Catholic anymore? You mean you’re not a Protestant anymore? Then you’re dead as far as I’m concerned. There’s still that kind of thinking in people’s hearts that say, if you’re not like me anymore, you’re out of here. And so these kind of attitudes are the things that keep the gospel many times from spreading. from progressing but the fact is that paul says look for it it’s a part of your destiny It says, it turned out that way, as you know, for this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. So he sent Timothy to the Thessalonians in order to find out what was going on. He said, I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless. Paul was saying, I was in essence scared to death that what we said to you was said in vain. But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought us the good news about your faith and love. He’s told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us just as we long to see you. Can you hear the heart of compassion that’s coming out of the Apostle Paul for the people that he had the privilege of ministering to? He said, I long to see you and I thank you that you long to see me. Therefore, brothers, in all our distress and persecution, we were encouraged about you because of your faith. Now, again, what is it that is encouraging to Paul about these people? It’s about their faith, isn’t it? It’s the fact that I hear that you’re walking by faith. Is that encouraging to you when you know somebody’s walking by faith? It’s terrifically encouraging to me. We have many, many people in our congregation and many people across the country. that are going through tough times. I think of Doris Caldwell out in Northern California, just lost her husband, Dick, after I don’t know how many years of marriage, probably well over 50 of marriage. And Dick has gone to be with the Lord, and now Doris is very, very sick. But she calls Amy back and forth, and Amy calls her, and she still is walking by faith. She’s hurting. She’s hurting emotionally because of the loss of her husband. She’s hurting physically because of the physical ailments she’s going through. But in the midst of that, she’s walking by faith, and she’s talking about the Lord and trusting Jesus and looking forward to the day that she’ll be absent from the body and present with the Lord. And you look at that and say, Doris, you’re our hope. It’s because of people like you that are our hope and our joy and our crown for which we live. It encourages you to hear that people that you’ve had an opportunity to minister to are walking by faith. Numerous ones of you here have lost your mates and your heart is broken. But you walk by faith and you hang in. And then you’ve got others who’ve lost their husbands who don’t hang in. You never see them again.
SPEAKER 01 :
Until next time, walk in faith, be good to one another, and praise the Lord. Amen.
