Weekly Sermon

5-20-12

Living Victorious In Difficult Times

This week we will be starting a series about living victorious in difficult times. Many of us go through such hard pains, especially in this time. We, collectively, have succumbed to the hardships of the economic failure of our day and time, but beyond that, we are living in a time of sadness in our lives. Is this sadness caused by the economic hardship or is it something much deeper? It is not as much of the financial hardships around us that cause us pain and suffering as it is the family and folks around us. Many of us could lose all the material possessions we have and not have the hardships that we would have if we lost family or friends. Most of the counseling I do is from folks coming to me because of a hard time they are dealing with and it more times than not deals with someone that is against them or someone that is giving them such a hard time. This even becomes worse when someone decides to take a new stand in life and become what God intended them to be. We have now caused changed and folks, in general, do not like change, especially in their friends.

Many of us believe that this is a new thing because it is now happening to us, in our lives, affect our every core existence. I am here to tell you that this has been happening since the beginning of time. I want to take us on a journey to the past and show how these same things were happening way back then, as they are now, and we will even look at how we can overcome the happenings and become happy with our lives, no matter what comes at us.

First I want us to take a look at a letter that was written by Paul. In this letter we will meet a group of people that were going through some very hard times. Turn with me to 2 Thessalonians 1:1-12, "This letter is from Paul, Silas, and Timothy. We are writing to the church in Thessalonica, to you who belong to God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (2)May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. (3)Dear brothers and sisters, we can't help but thank God for you, because your faith is flourishing and your love for one another is growing. (4)We proudly tell God's other churches about your endurance and faithfulness in all the persecutions and hardships you are suffering. (5)And God will use this persecution to show his justice and to make you worthy of his Kingdom, for which you are suffering. (6)In his justice he will pay back those who persecute you. (7)And God will provide rest for you who are being persecuted and also for us when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven. He will come with his mighty angels, (8)in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don't know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus. (9)They will be punished with eternal destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from his glorious power. (10)When he comes on that day, he will receive glory from his holy people—praise from all who believe. And this includes you, for you believed what we told you about him. (11)So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do. (12)Then the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored because of the way you live, and you will be honored along with him. This is all made possible because of the grace of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ."

This letter, written by Paul, is actually the first book of the New Testament. When you look at the Bible you will see that Matthew is the first book of the Bible, but in all reality the New Testament is not in chronological order. I bring this up because of the importance of the letter. There are two reasons the letter has importance, to us today. The first thing is what we have discussed that it is the first actual book of the New Testament. This is important because it starts us off, after the death of Christ, with an account of how life would be as a Christian, emulating Jesus' life. Jesus came and suffered His whole life just so that we could have life.

The second reason the letter was so important was because of the area and length of time in the area where the letter was written. What I mean is that Paul wrote this letter to a people where he had only stayed for a very short time. Paul came into Thessalonica for the purpose of spreading the Good News, the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul established churches and was unable to stick around to fully instruct them in the new life they had accepted. This is an area that was primarily occupied by the Jewish community. If you are not aware, the Jews really hate the gentile Christian. We believe that Christ came and died for us and they believe that Christ was just another person and that the true Messiah is yet to come. If one was to try to come and express that Christ was the true Messiah they would be pressed out of the area or even killed. These folks were living in an area where they we ridiculed to the point of death, even by their own family members that did not agree with their new lives.

How does that apply to us today? There are several things for us to notice. If you continue to live the life you were living, prior to Christ, you would not be as ridiculed because you are living a life that is conforming to those around you. If you go with the flow then life seems to be so much easier. The folks around you will not give you such a hard time. You are agreeing with them so no need for a hard time. There are two problems that arise from this life style. The first and most important is that you turn your back on God and cut yourself off from a life with Him after this life. The second reason is that ALL folks, yes all, feel an emptiness inside that they cannot explain. They are continually looking for something. Why is the drug craze so rampant? Folks are looking for something that they cannot find. They are looking for that something to fill that void. Now folks want to do whatever it takes to fill that void even if it means to turn their lives to Jesus. Once they have tried it all and have nowhere else to turn, let’s try God. Now comes the real problem. We have decided we do not want to live a life with this lonely void feeling. We turn to Christ and that void becomes filled and it is such a fantastic feeling. Oh but wait, what just happened. I have replaced lonely sad feelings with ridicule and hatred all around me. Now these folks that were once my friends are bashing me left and right. You are now attempting to swim in the rapids of a rushing river, going the wrong way, up stream. Before you swam in the rapids going the same way and you did not have to do much work. Actually if you just stopped swimming the rapids would carry you along. Now you are having to work at your new life and swim against the rapids. Many of us feel that rush of happiness and great feeling and then at times we feel as though we have just fallen back to the spot we were once in before. We stopped swimming and the rapids carried us back to square one. There are several things that cause this to happen. One, you cannot forgive yourself for the mistakes you made, even if you believe God forgave you or not and two, the devil likes to use your past against and show you just how terrible of a person you were by your very own actions. You believe this because after all it is true you did those things. Lastly, your old friends knew the old you and you went along with all their games and actions and now you have changed and are experiencing God and that is something they do not understand and they come against you for something they do not understand. How do we fight against this? How do we withstand all of this coming against us all at once?

Remember those folks in Thessalonica and how they were treated in the very same way. Paul wrote the letter as an act of encouragement and a pep talk. Paul told them that he was proud of them for being the church of God, just as God had designed. Through it all, with the Jews coming at them, and even their families coming against them, they stood their grounds and were showing they were true Christians. Paul was very aware of their pain and sufferings, as he was suffering just as they were. Do you see a pattern here? The Thessalonians suffered, Paul suffered, and Jesus suffered. It seems to look as though all Christians suffer for the gospel. Sounds like an exciting life right?

Paul gave the Thessalonica’s a look at the future. Paul told them of how they would be rewarded for their endurance in the faith. He told them how God would reward them and at the same time cause suffering and pain to those that caused them suffering and pain. I want us to take a quick English lesson, well actually Greek. If we look at the Greek word for endurance, as shown in verse 4, we would see that it translates to, patiently wait and endure in difficult times. As we can see, they were going through the same difficult times as we all do. They firmly stood their ground and showed their faith. The Greek word for faith means to believe or to be fully persuaded. The Thessalonians were so fully persuaded in their faith that was able to endure the persecutions of those around them. So, where does the good news come into play? When or how do we get to become the happy Christian we were told we would become when we accepted Christ?

Let us look at Philippians 1:29-30, "For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him. (30)We are in this struggle together. You have seen my struggle in the past, and you know that I am still in the midst of it." This privilege we are given is actually translated from a Greek word meaning, to grant as a favor or show kindness. When Christ returns we will be brought to Him and given all His favor and kindness because of our endurance in our faith.

We often hear such conflicting messages, from so many different pastors, about sufferings. Some of the popular messages today are that once we accept Christ, all of our problems are solved. Some pastors tell us that it is God's plan for all His children to be wealthy, healthy, and happy. As we can see in Thessalonians we are not always going to be healthy, wealthy and happy. Folks will come against us and because of our faith. Folks do not like change, even when we change our lives for the better. Look at the world around us and how Christians are under constant attack by the Jews, the Islam’s, and so many other religions.

The true question we all want to know is, how do we get past this? There are several things we can do to get past it all, but those things will come during this series.

Are you still living a life just going with the flow and feeling lonely because there is a void you cannot seem to fill? All you have to do to get started in filling that void is to say a simple prayer with me.

Say this simple prayer with me, Dear Lord, I want you to be the Lord over my life, forgive me of my sins, and give me the gift of everlasting life. Amen.

If you have said this simple prayer, then we believe that you have received salvation. We would love to rejoice with you, so please drop us a note, in our link, to let us know and confess Jesus before man, so that we may send you a few things that we hope will help you in your new Christian walk.

With Love in Christ,

Pastor Stone