Opposition, And What it Says About You
1 Thessalonians 2:13-20
As you know we are presently studying this wonderful letter
That Paul wrote to the Thessalonians.
It is a letter dripping with encouragement.
The Thessalonians had encouraged Paul through their obedience,
And now Paul writes to encourage them to continue.
And so we have not only seen some truths about accurate Biblical living,
But have also learned quite a bit about encouragement.
• Encouragement Begins with Holy Lives
• We encourage doubters by reminding them why they believe. (mother)
• We encourage those who have stopped, they have a job to do. (father)
And all of these are tremendous elements of Christian encouragement,
And elements that we seek to practice toward others on a daily basis.
TONIGHT WE LEARN ANOTHER ONE.
Tonight we learn about opposition and what it says about you.
And we even gain the unique privilege
Of seeing this from two very different perspectives.
What opposition says about you When you are the one who faces it.
What opposition says about you When you are the one who gives it.
And then we get to see the encouragement that Paul has in the midst of it.
Let’s get started as we look at the first of two points.
#1 TO THOSE WHO RECEIVE OPPOSITION
1 Thessalonians 2:13-14
Now I do have to tell you from the outset, that when we are talking about opposition, we do have to set a parameter, or a foundation point.
HERE IT IS.
The opposition we are speaking of is opposition to the truth of God.
Obviously not all opposition is wrong.
Jesus was opposed to the Pharisees.
We are called to be opposed to wickedness.
So it is not that opposition is a bad thing, in and of itself.
But here we are talking about opposition to the truth.
So we are looking at opposition in a negative sense.
And first of all those who receive it.
So we are dealing with people who are believing the truth,
Obeying the truth, and proclaiming the truth,
But who are facing opposition for their stance.
And this was obviously the Thessalonians.
“For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe. For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews,”
Now through a surface reading of that text, two things are very clear.
The Thessalonians had accepted the truth of Christ,
And they were facing opposition because of it.
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN THERE?
I truly hope so.
Not because I long for you to face opposition,
But because Scripture is clear that opposition is the natural consequence
Of one who truly accepts the truth.
We just studied the beatitudes in Matthew.
Matthew 5:10-12 “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Opposition is so definite in the life of the righteous,
That Jesus included it among the list of attributes of a righteous person.
Not only is a righteous person, poor in spirit, mourning over sin, meek, hungering for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, and a peacemaker.
But if a man is all those things, then you can bet he is also persecuted.
Scripture is clear, you don’t get righteousness apart from opposition.
And so opposition is the clearest of indicators
That you are living like Christ.
2 Timothy 3:12 “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”
Listen to what Paul says to the Philippians.
Philippians 1:27-28 “Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; in no way alarmed by your opponents — which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God.”
Listen to what Paul says to the Corinthians.
1 Corinthians 11:18-19 “For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you.”
It is clear that opposition is a tremendous indicator of God at work.
And so, while I do not wish hardship on you,
I do sincerely hope that you have faced opposition for your faith,
For those who have never faced opposition
Have much more explaining to do than those who have.
But if you have faced opposition,
Then you can identify at least to some degree with the Thessalonians.
Facing opposition is not fun, and it can even rattle you a little.
This is a little different than the suffering
We spoke of the last couple of weeks.
Sometimes suffering can cause us to doubt God, or God’s work in our lives, and for that we need others to remind us why we believe.
This is different.
This is opposition to our ministry.
And this doesn’t make us doubt God
So much as this makes us doubt ourselves.
When you step out and try to serve God to the best of your ability
And someone tells you how wrong you are for it,
It can really throw you into a tail spin.
You will sit up wrestling with questions like:
Am I really serving God like I thought?
Am I doing this wrong?
Do I really know what it means to serve Jesus at all?
And while I am always a fan of self-evaluation,
Sometimes our own honest evaluation is taken over by the enemy
Who turns it into blatant false accusation.
And before you know it, the opposition that should confirm you
Actually causes you to condemn yourself.
This is why Scripture speaks so much to the concept of suffering,
Continually reassuring those who are persecuted
That this is indeed a good thing.
1 Peter 4:12-13 “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.”
1 John 3:13-14 “Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.”
It is why Jesus continually forewarned His disciples.
John 16:1-4 “These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling. “They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God. “These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me. “But these things I have spoken to you, so that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them. These things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.”
All of these writers were saying the same thing.
DO NOT BE SURPRISED
They knew that the first time you or I stepped out in obedience to Christ
And faced opposition for it, that we would question if we did it wrong.
Did I do something wrong, why do they all hate me?
Did I fail to show the love of Christ, why are they so angry?
Is Christ even in me at all?
Unlike general suffering,
Opposition does not makes us question God,
It makes us question ourselves.
It is at this point we desperately need input from another source.
We need someone else, who has also seen our lives,
Who can step in and encourage us that we are on the right path.
That is precisely what Paul does here for the Thessalonians.
He actually reminds the Thessalonians
About four tremendous credentials that he sees at work in their life.
And by the way, the fact that Paul lists specifics
Indicates to us that our encouragement
Must also include Biblical specifics.
When a person is truly beaten down by opposition,
They don’t just need you to say, “I think they are wrong.”
They need you to show them,
Why you see the evidence of Christ in their lives.
That is what Paul does here.
Let’s look at them.
1) ACCEPTANCE OF THE WORD (13a)
“For this reason we also continually thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God,”
Here we have a group of believers, who because of the opposition,
May have even been questioning if they knew Christ at all.
And Paul here reminds them of what he saw when he came.
I saw a group of people who “received the word of God”.
And you didn’t accept it “as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God,”
It’s as if Paul is saying, “I’ve preached in a lot of places, and not only do I know what it looks like when people reject God’s word, but I also know what it looks like when people are just polite accepting what I say out of kindness.”
But that wasn’t you.
You knew these weren’t my words.
You knew I wasn’t speaking from myself.
You believed that I was speaking the word of God.
You believed that God was speaking to you.
And that is why you accepted it.
That is why you turned from those idols.
That is why you faced the initial opposition.
He saw them accept God’s word.
Acceptance of God’s Word
2) SUBMISSION TO GOD’S WORD (13b)
“which also performs its work in you who believe.”
Now you remember that Paul did see their initial response to the gospel,
And he thought it was legitimate.
But you will also recall that after Paul left, even he was concerned about their faith, feeling the need to send Timothy to check on them.
And so, the fact that they accepted God’s word,
Would not be enough by itself.
But that is not all they did.
They also submitted to God’s word,
As evidenced by the fact that it was performing its work in them.
We call this SANCTIFICATION
We saw it in chapter 1
1 Thessalonians 1:8-10 “For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything. For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.”
And because God’s word was at work in them,
Paul knew that their acceptance of that word was legitimate.
That is why in chapter 1, and here in verse 13, Paul said
“we also constantly thank God”
Based upon their obedience, Paul was convinced
That God had truly saved these Thessalonians.
Which also indicates that these Thessalonians did truly accept His word.
We don’t know what all their opponents were accusing them of,
But Paul writes to make sure they know that when he saw them,
He saw people who really did accept God’s word,
And who really did submit their lives to it.
Acceptance of God’s Word Submission to God’s Word
3) DEVOTION TO PLEASING GOD (14a)
“For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea,”
What a great statement.
We are not the first church who ever read about
The church in the book of Acts and thought it best to copy them.
Remember what we read about them?
Acts 2:41-47 “So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.”
We read about that church and say,
We need to be a church more like them.
Well, the Thessalonians did the same thing.
They didn’t have a New Testament.
How to do church was a new and foreign thing.
All they had to go on was the reports of Paul, Silas, and Timothy,
As to what that church looked like.
And this church determined that they were going to do church like them.
In short, they had a desire to do it right and to please God.
This may indeed be a vanishing concept in our churches today.
We see a whole lot of a desire to please self.
What with our multiple services to cater to various musical preferences,
And our trendy sermons meant to amuse without lasting too long.
But the Thessalonians didn’t operate like that.
They wanted to please God,
And so they set out to copy the only pattern they had.
And based upon that devotion Paul says, “I don’t know what they are accusing you of, but let me tell you what I see. I see a church that accepted God’s word, submits to God’s word, and one that desires to please God.”
4) ENDURANCE THROUGH SUFFERING (14b)
“for you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews.”
And here Paul makes it full circle.
See, your opposition is not some strange thing.
See, your opposition does not indicate that you are wrong.
Your opposition indicates that you are doing it right.
For you are only receiving what other true believers are receiving.
Your opposition is not a mark against you,
It is a jewel in your crown!
And the fact that you endure through that opposition
Is a great indicator that you really do want to serve God.
Who among us, if suffering opposition for their obedience,
Wouldn’t want to hear encouragement like that?
“Hey I know you, and I know you accepted Christ, it is evident in the way God’s word has changed you. I also see how badly you want to please Christ, so don’t let this opposition get you down, that just means you are doing it right.”
That is tremendous encouragement.
And that is what Jesus meant!
Matthew 5:10-12 “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
1 Peter 3:14 “But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. AND DO NOT FEAR THEIR INTIMIDATION, AND DO NOT BE TROUBLED,”
That is great encouragement,
And it is important that we give it to our fellow brothers and sisters.
The fact is:
If you are suffering, be prepared to stand alone,
But live so as to make sure that no one else has to.
Encourage them, not with sympathetic words of what you think,
But with evidence of biblical fruit that you see in their lives.
And so first we see what opposition says about those who receive it.
It is a great indicator of Christ-likeness and obedience,
Make sure you encourage those who are opposed.
But there is a flip side to this concept of opposition.
To those who receive it.
#2 TO THOSE WHO GIVE IT
1 Thessalonians 2:15-16
Now, we won’t spend nearly as much time on this portion of the text,
Except to reveal why Paul knew they weren’t accurate.
This person, stood up and opposed you for reasons of their own,
Not only did Paul want to show you why you were right,
But he also seeks to show why they are wrong.
This is a double side of encouragement.
And so lets examine those who oppose the truth.
1) REJECTION OF GOD’S WORD (15a)
“who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out.”
We know it was the Jews who were giving the opposition,
And that makes it sting a little worse.
When a religious person who claims to love God
Tells you that you are wrong, it really can hurt a little worse.
Paul says, not to read too much into their attacks,
For they have always hated God’s word.
• They silenced those who spoke God’s Word.
• They killed the incarnate word.
• And it was even them who ran us out of Thessalonica.
Don’t be surprise that they oppose you,
Instead you should be concerned if they didn’t.
If men who would kill Jesus have no problem with you,
Then there is a problem with you.
So Paul says don’t mind them, they always reject God’s Word.
2) HOSTILITY TOWARDS EVERYTHING (15b)
“They are not pleasing to God, but hostile to all men,”
Remember what Jesus said to His disciples?
John 16:1-5 “These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling. “They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God. “These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me.”
They think that by persecuting you, they are pleasing God.
They may even tell you that it is because of God that they oppose you.
Paul says, don’t listen to them.
“They are not pleasing to God”
They are “hostile to all men”; they are just unhappy individuals.
And Paul should know, he used to be their leader.
They think they are right to do what they do, you just know that they aren’t.
3) OPPOSITION TO SALVATION (16a)
“hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved;”
And Paul says, you ought to know what type of people they are,
When you see that they don’t care about the salvation of the lost.
They would just as soon that people go to hell.
They hate the truth, and in reality they hate other people,
Otherwise they would love what you are doing
In trying to lead others to Christ.
But the fact that they oppose you, should be all the evidence you need.
4) STUBBORNNESS IN SIN (16b)
“with the result that they always fill up the measure of their sins.”
This simply means that they continue without recourse.
The Jews weren’t happy until Jesus was dead.
• It wasn’t enough to simply reject Him, they had to kill Him.
• It wasn’t enough to ignore the prophets, they had to kill them.
• It wasn’t enough to ignore Paul, they had to run him out of town.
This explains their opposition.
They are not complacent people, they are wicked people.
A complacent person would ignore you, and that is bad enough,
But these people are full-blown wicked,
And so they can’t stop until they stop you.
And by the way, they won’t stop until they stop you.
Even Jesus said:
Matthew 10:21-23 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. “You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved. “But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes.”
They are just people committed to their sin,
And their sin requires that they oppose you even to the death.
And again you can hear Paul saying, “Don’t sweat them, or what they say, they are just angry people who love their sin.”
5) JUDGMENT FROM GOD (16c)
“But wrath has come upon them to the utmost.”
And please notice, Paul DID NOT say “Wrath will come on them”.
Paul said, “wrath has come upon them to the utmost.”
They are already under judgment.
With Israel we know that they have been broken off.
Romans 11:7-10 “What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened; just as it is written, “GOD GAVE THEM A SPIRIT OF STUPOR, EYES TO SEE NOT AND EARS TO HEAR NOT, DOWN TO THIS VERY DAY.” And David says, “LET THEIR TABLE BECOME A SNARE AND A TRAP, AND A STUMBLING BLOCK AND A RETRIBUTION TO THEM. “LET THEIR EYES BE DARKENED TO SEE NOT, AND BEND THEIR BACKS FOREVER.”
Israel was already under judgment.
They couldn’t see the truth, and there is no greater judgment than that.
And that is true for many who oppose the truth today.
They do so because they have hardened their heart
So that they refuse to see, and the only recourse now is to oppose it.
It is a sad reality, but a reality none the less.
And here Paul is encouraging the Thessalonians
Not to be too concerned about their opposition.
What does the opposition to the truth say about those who receive it?
It says that you must actually look like Christ.
What does the opposition to the truth say about those who give it?
It says that you are deceived and in great danger before God.
And Paul writes to encourage the Thessalonians with these facts.
And so we learn another important aspect
Of Christian encouragement.
When you see a brother or sister attacked for his or her faith,
Don’t just assume they are strong and will handle it fine.
Satan loves to play mind games of self-doubt and disillusionment.
• You make sure and help them see what you see in them.
• You be sure to help them see their biblical fruit.
• You be sure to help them see the biblical perspective to persecution.
• You be sure to help them see why they are hated.
It is vital encouragement to keep a brother or sister
Standing strong in the midst of opposition.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.”
