Stand Firm! You Encourage Fellow Saints! (2 Thessalonians 1:1-4)
I just recently came back from the Philippines, attending a conference and visiting a church.
While there, I used the opportunity to catch up with the Filipino brethren who have been to GBC, either to attend a conference or our recent Weekender. Usually I’ll ask how their church is doing, and likewise they will ask how we are doing.
Quite regularly they will rave about how coming to GBC was worth it, by God’s grace, to help them think of how a biblical church (not a perfect church!) can look like, and that they want to come again bringing other pastors. To me, it is a great encouragement to hear that what we worked hard for, what we inconvenienced ourselves with (when this hall is unusually packed, when we have to squeeze), is actually encouraging some fellow saints somewhere.
In fact, hearing how they are pressing on for a biblical church (just like we do here) encourages me in return, and I hope it also encourages us as we press on together.
From today and the next 3 Sundays, we will be in a new sermon series from 2 Thessalonians. We did a sermon series from 1 Thessalonians in May to July this year, and the big idea for that sermon series was “Awaiting Christ’s Return”.
By the time of 2 Thessalonians, Christ still has not returned, although there were false rumours swirling around saying that He has. In fact, this second letter is written only a few months after the first, possibly because of the urgency of addressing those false teachings. Even today, Christ still has not returned, which makes Paul’s second letter to Thessalonians almost immediately relevant to us.
The big idea of the whole book of Second Thessalonians is “Christ still has not returned, but He will surely return, therefore stand firm!”
A brief recap of the Thessalonian church is helpful to get us up to speed. Paul started this church in Acts 17 with Timothy and Silas (also known as Silvanus in our text). No wonder Paul opens the letters (both the first letter and this second one) with identifying himself, Silvanus (Silas), and Timothy. Imagine the excitement of receiving a letter from your own church planters: think of receiving a letter from Ms Lora Clement and Ms Dorcas Lau, or from Dr P.
Since the beginning (in Acts 17) the church has been facing persecutions. In the first letter, they are still facing persecutions. In this second letter, they are still facing persecutions as we can see in 2 Thessalonians 1:4, “Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.” A letter of commendation from their church planters (affirming what they are doing) would have been especially sweet.
Beloved, it is easy for me to turn this sermon into a personal message of commendation from me to you for the good things that you have been standing firm on. But I would have missed the main purpose of this passage if that is the only thing I did. This letter is from Paul to a persevering church, and by extension, to us; not my letter to you. So, I will preach this passage as Paul’s letter to us.
Christ will surely come, therefore Christians can encourage one another by standing firm.
The main point of our passage this morning is: “Christ will surely come, therefore Christians (us) can encourage one another by standing firm.”
While waiting for His second coming, Christ uses His saints as the ordinary means to encourage His saints.
Stand firm because we are in Christ (2 Thess 1:1-2)
Again, this letter opens with the names of the church planters who are dear to the church. These are the very people who have proclaimed the best news they have ever received. The news that has given them a life everlasting. The kind of news that is worth it for Christians to stand firm even amid persecutions.
The opening of this letter is actually very similar to the opening of 1 Thessalonians, but with one glaring difference. In 1 Thessalonians, Paul describes the church as being “in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” But here in our text, he describes the church as being “in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
There is an elevated intimacy in this letter between the church and God, because God is not just the Father, He is our Father. This talks about the church’s identity, our identity. As Christians, we are in Christ.
What does it mean to be in Christ? It means that we have been united with Him. His works and merits are considered ours, credited to our accounts, not because of some good things that we have done, but in spite of no good things that we have done. It is all by grace. Because we are in Christ, His Father is our Father.
Beloved, not everyone of us has a good earthly father. I am not even talking about a Christian father here, but just a decent father who at least appreciates us. Perhaps some of us have a father who is abusive, and that makes us suspicious of the idea of “a good father”. But be assured of this good news, my friends. If we follow Christ, we are in Him. And if we are in Him, His Father is our Father. God is our Father.
Listen to what Christ has to say about God as our Father in Matthew 7:9-11: “which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”
And again in Matthew 6:26-33.
A good father:
Protects his children.
Provides for hs children’s needs.
Comforts his children when bad things happen.
Encourages his children to grow into maturity.
And a perfect Father does all these perfectly.
God is that perfect Father.
I think it is helpful to think of parents who adopt a child. Adoption requires intentionality. Adoption requires commitment. Adoption requires love. The same way, and even in a much greater way, God has adopted us in Christ to be His children. There is no chance for Him (a perfect Father) to neglect us if He has adopted us as His children in Christ.
So beloved, just a simple reminder that if we are in Christ, God is our Father. I hope it encourages us amid whatever struggles we may be facing now. Come to Him with a childlike faith (a faith that is fully trusting) that He shall perfectly care for us.
Beloved, consider also that God is not just my Father, but our Father. That means that if you are in Christ, you are my family. I am your family. You are my brothers and sisters in Christ. I am your brother in Christ. And I hope if we call each other brothers and sisters in Christ, it is not just courtesy, but that we really (seriously!) treat each other as such. This church is our immediate family. Yes, the Christians around the world are our family in Christ, but we have not really lived that out with our actions, if we have not really loved our own immediate family: this local church (GBC).
Only if we have assurance that we have these grace and peace will we have the motivation to stand firm amid hardships.
2 Thessalonians 1:2 is a standard opening greeting for letters during that time. Unlike in 1 Thessalonians, here, Paul clarifies that grace and peace originate from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Because the church (us) have been united with Christ, because we are the adopted children of God, we have grace and peace. This is a grace that gives us the assurance of a life everlasting that motivates us to persevere this momentary life with all its brokenness. This is a peace that surpasses all understanding that will guard our hearts and minds regardless of our momentary (often broken) circumstances. Only if we have assurance that we have these grace and peace will we have the motivation to stand firm amid hardships.
Beloved, where do we place our identity and worth? It is so tempting to place our identity in our achievements in our schoolwork, in our workplace, in our parenting, even in the amount of savings and insurance that we have. This is because, when we do well it gives us some sense of pride. But when we do not, we despair.
In fact, those types of side effects (pride and despair) should give us a hint that placing our identity in our achievements is a terrible idea. We should not be placing our identity in our achievements not just to avoid despair, because pride (while it makes us feel good about ourselves) is as bad (if not worse).
Rather, if we follow Christ, He has given us a new identity. This new identity does not depend on what we do. It does not depend on who we are, our status in life, our achievements. This new identity depends on who Christ is and what He has done. If we follow Christ, we are called “in Christ”, because God considers “who Christ is and what He has done” as ours. This identity will never fail because Christ has finished His perfect work perfectly.
If our identity is in Him, there is no room for pride, because it is all Christ. There is no room for despair, because Christ’s work (that’s counted as ours) is perfect. And this identity is the one that assures us of grace and peace.
So, do not rely on other identities that tempt us with immediate gratification, but ultimately momentary and fake.
Beloved, if we have grace and peace that come from our Father and from Christ, we can stand firm. So let us stand firm because we are in Christ.
So far, we have seen that we can (and we must) stand firm because we are in Christ. But Christ also uses means to accomplish His purposes. He even uses imperfect means, like everyone of us, Christians.
Which leads us to our second point: Stand firm because it encourages others to give thanks, to affirm, and to imitate.
But before we go to our second point, it is important to address the elephant in the room: Not many of us in Singapore feel like we’re under persecutions. In fact, some of us feel that we are living a rather comfortable life here.
I think this demands some responses from us. First response is of course one of gratitude for a safe and stable country where freedom of worship is guaranteed by our government.
But second is one of evaluation: Are we stewarding our Christian faith well wherever God has placed us in? Let me read for us the reason why the Thessalonian church were persecuted, from Acts 17:6-7 — “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” The Thessalonian church were facing persecutions because they lived a life so clear that their allegiance is to Jesus and none others.
I m not trying to make any of us feel bad about ourselves. I still occasionally struggle with this. So, I’m not hear to pinpoint a speck in your eye while I know I have a log in mine. But, beloved, if God’s Word speaks, it’s always timely for us to reflect, pick up the slack, and obey. I hope it is clear from God’s Word that following Christ has consequences. We may be ridiculed, bullied, marginalized, treated unfairly, labeled as “bigot”. The consequences for us may not be as severe as what the Thessalonians experienced, but as long as we are still living in this broken world, following Christ will have consequences.
Do our friends, colleagues, relatives, even know that we are a Christian? Or are we always that nice, cordial person so scared of offending anyone if we talk about Christ? Do we speak of Christ and His goodness with them? Are we making decisions that honour Christ as our king? Or are we indifferent to Christ?
Yes, being a faithful follower of Christ will cost us something, even our friendship, our honour, our face, our promotion. But beloved, how we stand firm amid those afflictions can be used by God to encourage brothers and sisters in Christ who may be struggling in similar ways.
On the other hand, we must not discourage one another by saying that if we do not get persecuted the way the early church got persecuted, then we are not really persecuted. Paul did not get persecuted the way Peter did. Peter did not get persecuted the way John the Baptist did. Perhaps the early Christians were thankful they were not sawn in two the way Isaiah was (possibly). So while we should not try to avoid persecutions, we also should not underestimate persecutions that have come, both to ourselves and to our brothers and sisters in Christ.
We now turn to our second point:
Stand firm because it encourages others to give thanks, to affirm, and to imitate (2 Thess 1:3-4)
We tend to think that standing firm is about staying where we are. In a sense it is true. Because if we are in Christ, we would not want to move anywhere else. But in another sense it is not true, if we are thinking of standing firm as staying stagnant.
As Paul commands it to the Thessalonians, as the Thessalonians understand it from Paul, standing firm involves growth, growth in faith, in love, in hope.
If we recall in 1 Thessalonians 1:3-10, Paul commends the church for their work of faith, labor of love, and steadfastness of hope. In fact, their work of faith, labour of love, and steadfastness of hope have become exemplary to other local churches (specifically in Macedonia and Achaia). This was also repeated in 1 Thessalonians 4:1,9-10.
So how is the Thessalonian church doing so far? 2 Thessalonians 1:3-4 show us that they have been doing quite well actually. The church have been standing firm on the very things Paul asks them to do more and more. There is growth in their faith, increase in their love for one another and endurance of steadfastness and faith.
Something noteworthy is that even amid persecutions, their trust in God is growing and their love for one another is increasing.
I don’t know about you, but I tend to avoid people when I am not feeling great about my circumstances. I would rather wallow in self-pity. I think some of you may be like me.
Some of us may respond in a different way. Some of us may start to question God: “God, do you really love me?” “Do you care?” “Are you even real?”
Some of us may choose to give up.
On the contrary, the Thessalonian church don’t just love one another, have faith, and endure, but amid persecutions … their love for one another is increasing, their faith is growing, their steadfastness and faith are enduring. That is how the church stands firm.
GBC, in the past six years with you, I have had the privilege of witnessing our faith growing abundantly and our love for one another increasing, in terms of:
Your care for members who are in need
Your willingness to spend the rest of Sunday with fellow church members to discuss the applications of the sermon we just heard
Your willingness to share your lives with one another, to read the Bible together, to pray together, not just on Sundays, but also on weekdays, over lunches, over dinners
Your attending the funeral of someone who may be a total stranger to you but you do it anyway because it will encourage a fellow church member who is grieving
GBC, stand firm on these things.
I have also observed how many of our older saints, especially our pioneers, have endured even through thick and thin, especially in terms of:
Your welcoming the young ones
Your welcoming the new ones, even hosting us at your homes, making us feel welcomed
Your discipling of the next generation, teaching Sunday school, befriending our young ones
Your willingness and humility to stay, entrust, pass-on, and model faithfulness so that we can continue all the good things God have been doing in and through you
GBC, stand firm on these things.
Although by and large, we as a church are doing well, some of us may still be struggling with growing in faith, increasing in love for one another, and enduring amid persecutions. We may wonder: “Is there any secret recipe to the Thessalonian church?” I think there is, but I think, it is not something that we do not have or do not know yet. Our passage tells us that it is grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Those grace and peace enable us to see our persecutions as real and painful, but momentary and worthwhile. 1 Thessalonians also helps us to see that the other secret recipe is receiving Apostles’ teachings, which includes a lot of commands to “love one another”.
Beloved, if we are in Christ, we all have the very same grace and peace the Thessalonians had. We also have the Bible, which contains all the Apostles’ teachings the Thessalonians had. And quite clearly, growing in faith and increasing in our love for one another amid persecutions is quite a supernatural thing. On our own strength, we surely cannot. But we have the very same Holy Spirit that enabled the Thessalonians.
Church, we have all we need to grow in faith, increase in love for one another, and endure amid persecutions.
Church, we have all we need to grow in faith, increase in love for one another, and endure amid persecutions. Instead of withdrawing ourselves from the community, let us draw ourselves closer when persecutions come, trusting that God providentially uses this community to encourage us, to strengthen us, and to heal us.
In God’s wise design, we stand firm not just because it is a duty for us as Christians, also not just because it is good for us, but also because it is good for other Christians who know us. It is the idea of doing spiritual good to one another.
We may be familiar with doing spiritual good through reading, through counseling. But sharing our life, in all its imperfections, and our efforts to stand firm even amid life challenges, can be a very strong “doing spiritual good” to one another.
In our passage, we see that by standing firm amid persecutions, the Thessalonian church cause Paul to respond in three ways. First, in 2 Thessalonians 1:3, he gives thanks to God. Second, in 2 Thessalonians 1:4, he affirms the goodness of what they’re doing. Third, also in 2 Thessalonians 1:4, he commends them to others so that others can imitate them.
Let us start with the first one. The church’s resolve to stand firm amid persecutions causes Paul to give thanks to God. in 2 Thessalonians 1:3, Paul writes, “We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right”. “Ought” is a strong word that implies an obligation. When Paul witnesses the church stand firm amid persecutions, it’s an obligation for him to give thanks to God.
But why is it an obligation? Does it mean that his thanksgiving to God doesn’t come from his heart? Not at all.
Firstly, in First Thessalonians, Paul has been praying for the church to stand firm. Now that his prayers have been answered favorably, giving thanks to God is the only appropriate response.
Secondly, it also means that, if we acknowledge that a Christian can stand firm only with God’s help. When we witness a Christian who does stand firm, we cannot help but give thanks to God who helps that Christian to stand firm. We give thanks to God because we have the privilege to see God’s mighty work (and thereby ourselves encouraged) and to witness a fellow Christian strengthened by God’s mighty work.
We continue with the second. The church’s resolve to stand firm amid persecutions causes Paul to affirm they’re doing well. in 2 Thessalonians 1:4, the word used here is “boast”. The word is often associated with pride, arrogance. But in this context, Paul is not saying it arrogantly. Instead, he is like a father who is proud of his child with the kind of boasting that affirms and encourages.
And finally, we see the church’s resolve to stand firm amid persecutions causes Paul to invite other churches to imitate the Thessalonian church. Again, in 2 Thessalonians 1:4, the context of Paul’s boasting is “in the churches of God”. We know from 1 Thessalonians that the Thessalonian church have been a role model to the churches in Macedonia and Achaia. It is likely that Paul’s boasting is to encourage even more churches (as he continues with his missionary journey) to imitate the Thessalonian church to stand firm. Just as a father wanting all his children to do well, he tells them to follow the one who’s doing well. This is the kind of boasting that desires all to do well, and finish well.
Beloved, our tendency is to give thanks to God when we get what we want. When we get the grades we want, the school we want, the boyfriend or girlfriend we want, the job we want, the income we want, the healing we want, the kind of behavior we want for our kids, which are all good things. If we asked from God, and God is pleased to bless us with what we asked for, we are obligated to give thanks to God. But from this passage, we are taught to not just give thanks for blessings. We must also give thanks to God when other Christians stand firm, when their faith grow, when their love for one another increase, when they endure amid persecutions. I pray our hearts rejoice and praise God when fellow saints stand firm.
Beloved, by God’s grace, we already have a culture of affirming one another. We should stand firm on that. Some of us may have suspicion about doing something in order to get affirmation. And of course you are right — it is wrong to do something in order to get affirmation. We should do something because it pleases God and we should not be allergic to affirmation. Affirmation is just one way we know that we may be doing something right. And friends, we may never know, the affirmation we give, God may use it to uplift a doubting soul.
Elders, continue to affirm the good works happening here and encourage members to imitate one another, especially the ones who are faithful in imitating Christ. Meet with us personally and encourage us on how we’re doing, how our family is doing. Link us up with someone (or some family) who can be a role model for us. Be humble also to receive affirmation from us for the good works that you are doing.
Parents, we can also affirm our kids for hints of trusting Christ and obedience. Yes, our kids are born sinners but if we have been discipling them faithfully, we’ll never know when they may be converted. Link them with older people in the church. I am sure your kids will not just learn a ton from them, they will also gain precious friendships with the saints you can trust.
Church, standing firm won’t automatically encourage other saints. It requires intentionality, relationship and openness. Paul would not know that the church was facing persecutions if they did not share it with him. Paul would not know that the church was standing firm if they did not share it with him.
It starts with relationships. The church is that safe space to have such relationships. How can we know that? Because we have the same Christ, the same Father, the same Spirit. We aim for the same end goal, and we have covenanted together that: “We will be devoted to one another in brotherly love; to watch over, pray for, patiently bear with, forgive, encourage, and admonish one another with love, humility and gentleness.”
So beloved, let’s have relationships in the church. But not just superficial relationships. Have meaningful relationships where we can be vulnerable with one another; to share our faithfulness as well as shortcomings. In God’s wise providence, He may use our faithfulness (or even shortcomings) to encourage someone in the church to stand firm.
GBC, I always give thanks to God for our growth and endurance, and boast to whomever Christians I meet about how God has been gracious to us in these past years, not just in terms of the number of members we have, but more importantly how we grow in our understanding of the whole counsel of God and our life together as a church.
You have encouraged me and my family to stand firm. You have encouraged my Christian friends to stand firm. I pray that you stand firm in these things … that you may encourage even more Christians to stand firm.
If you are a non-Christian and you have been listening in, perhaps you question: what is this preacher talking about persecutions when we are sitting in such a nice, comfortable hall like this one. Friends, you are right that our church is blessed. But all of us are still living in this broken world. The pain you experience, we also experience. The hurt you experience, we also experience. You may even have a Christian friend whom in your mind is perhaps kind, but a bit too fanatical and not so cooperative when it comes to having fun. And perhaps you are a bit confused that although your Christian friend may have been marginalized, he’s still kind to everyone. And you wonder if Christians just won’t buckle? They just stand firm? They have this strange peace in them?
That peace comes from Jesus. Jesus who came 2000 years ago to come as a human (God who humbles Himself to become human), to live a perfect life that everyone of us should but don’t because we are all sinners, to die the horrible death that everyone of us (sinners) deserve. He called sinners like you and I (who don’t deserve him) to come follow Him. He died for such sinners, to take the punishment that is supposedly for us. And He rose again from the dead.
He is the only human in history who has ever died, lived again, and never to die again. That alone should make us think: “If there’s such a person, and there’s only one, shouldn’t we listen to him?”
He promised that He shall come again to restore this world, where there will be no more pain, no more suffering, no more sadness, no more death, making our present pain, suffering, sadness, and yes, death, momentary.
This is the good news that we (Christians) believe, my friends. And we think it is also good for you. It is good because it doesn’t depend on our performance. There is no room for pride; no room for despair. There is only Christ, the King who loves His people so much He gave His life for us.
Why wouldn’t you want to be the people of such a loving King? Why wouldn’t you want to be among His people, like this church, where we help one another, encourage one another, as we await the King to come again?
Friends, may I appeal to you to follow Jesus today.
If you want to, but don’t know how to, or if you just have more questions about Jesus, find me at the main entrance at the back of this hall. I would love to chat with you.
Or talk to the person who brought you here, or the person sitting next to you.
GBC, today we have learned from just the first four verses of Second Thessalonians that as we look forward to the second coming of Christ we ought to stand firm.
We stand firm because we are in Christ and have grace and peace sufficient to sustain us till the end.
We also stand firm because it encourages others. It encourages others to give thanks to God. It encourages others to affirm the good things we’re doing well, thereby encouraging us in return. It encourages others to want to follow us (as we follow Christ).
GBC, you have encouraged me to stand firm. You have encouraged the Filipino brethren I caught up with last week. You have encouraged the Indonesian brethren I caught with up a few months ago. You have encouraged many of us.
So, as we await that glorious day when our Lord comes again, continue to stand firm, … and in doing so we encourage one another and those watching us.
Beloved, it’s worth it.
Let’s pray.