Tonight then, can I ask you to return to that chapter we read in 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. We're going to look at verses 13 to 20. 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, looking at verses 13 to 20, as we looked at the previous verses last Wednesday evening. The title I want to give to our meditation tonight is Ready for Discipleship. Ready for Discipleship. We looked at the previous verses last Wednesday evening, and the title was The All-Round Pastor. And we looked at the characteristics of Paul, who was their first pastor. And we notice that he was a steward of the gospel, and he acted like a mother and like a father to these young Greek Christians in order that they might make progress in the Christian life. Now that he is absent from them, and we shall dwell on that briefly towards the end, but he's absent from them, but he's still concerned about them, and he wants them to make progress in their Christian discipleship. And he wants them to know that they are ready for discipleship, and they're ready to make progress in their discipleship. And they have all the resources that God provides for them to make progress in their Christian walk and experience. And just because he's not with them, that doesn't mean to say that they cannot advance. And in context, that we understand the position that they find themselves in, they're in a position of persecution and suffering for the gospel's sake. And therefore, even as they are enduring this persecution and suffering, he wants them to be well aware that God has provided the resources for them. in order that they might make progress and continue to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I put it to you that we shall see in these verses that Paul explains and points out and highlights the divine resources available in times of suffering and persecution for these young, fledging Greek Christians in Thessalonica. Well, what are these resources then? What are these divine provisions that God has for his people in Thessalonica and that he has for his people here in Partick? God has not changed. The way of the Christian life has not changed. We will come across persecutions and sufferings that are unique to the Christian life. We know, for instance, that because we live in this sin-cursed world, we will encounter suffering. We cannot avoid it. It's impossible. We've said it before, and we're not going to be ashamed to say it again, suffering will come. It comes to everyone who lives upon planet earth because this is a cursed environment. But what we're particularly talking about here is the sufferings that are unique to the Christian, to the one who is united to Christ by faith through the gospel. But God gives us provision. He gives us resources. and therefore we are to use these resources that he has given to us. Well the first thing we want to notice here, the resource that God has provided, is God's Word is within us. God's Word is within us. Verse 13 would highlight this. For this cause also thank we God without ceasing Because when you received the word of God, which he heard of us, you received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectively worketh also in you that believe." Notice first, they appreciated the word. They appreciated the word. And it's probably a reference to verse 9. Here Paul says in verse 9, Now the word there that has been translated preached, it denotes a town crier. It denotes a herald. It denotes someone who is proclaiming an official declaration. This is not Paul arguing with people. This is not people gossiping the gospel. There are different ways to proclaim the gospel, but the word that's translated preached here doesn't mean that at all. It means someone who's going into the center of the city, or the village, or the town, where the people meet, where the market is, where there's people, and he's standing up, and he's reading from a scroll, as it were, and he's declaring something. And he's standing there in the authority of the person who has sent him. and very often civil leaders would have town criers and they would go to the very center of the town and they would declare this proclamation, whatever it was, from the government or from the state, from the king, from the emperor, whatever. Well that's what the apostle Paul did when he went to Thessalonica. He declared the word of God. There would have been time for argumentation, there would have been time for discussion, there would have been time for gossiping the gospel, but that's not what happened here, that's not what he's referring to. And therefore he was standing there as an ambassador for the Lord Jesus Christ. He had a definite, direct message to proclaim, and he proclaimed it, and they received this message. That's the way we are to receive the Word of God. The Bible, friends, is not my book. It's not the book of the church. It's God's Word. And the Bible, God's Word, is described in various ways in the Bible. It is called bread. It is called meat. It is called milk on occasions. It's called honey on other occasions. It's called light. And it's called truth. All of these things we'll find in the Bible describing the word of God. And we think about bread and milk and meat and honey. What do they convey to us? Well, it's surely food. It's surely food, and therefore God's word is meat, milk, honey, bread for our souls. enable us to go forward, it will enable us to grow in grace when we meditate upon God's word, when we receive it and recognize that it is indeed the word of the living God. And that's the way that they received it. Not for them to think this is the word of man. No, this was the word of God. And this has been the experience of the saints of all time. We could go back to Job, who's one of the earliest of the biblical characters. He says of himself, In Job chapter 23 verse 12, The words of his mouth, the word of God, more than my necessary food. Ask ourselves, friends, would we give up our food for the Bible? Job would. He would rather miss a meal than miss having the word of God. It's so precious, it's so vital for the Christian. Ask ourselves another question. Would you rather have God's word than money? Many would say, certainly in the world, they would far rather have money. But if we are going to read the Word of God, if we read like Psalm 119 that we studied some time ago, or Psalm 19 as we will conclude this meeting with, there we find, friends, that the Word of God is more precious than gold. How many of us would actually subscribe to that? But that's the case with the Word of God. It's more valuable, it's more necessary than money itself. And we're to prize what God has revealed to us in his Word more than anything. Let's also ask ourselves another question. Would you rather have God's Word than sleep? We just sung this part in the Psalm 119, the verse I'm going to quote. In verse 148 of Psalm 119, here the psalmist says, Do we have that kind of hunger? Well, it seems that's the kind of hunger that the Thessalonians had. They appreciated this word. And let's get into the context. Let's remind ourselves of the situation that Paul was addressing. There were many, many speakers and many, many teachers and many, many philosophers going around, and they were all peddling their doctrines and their philosophies. But here, Paul went with the eternal gospel. He went with the word of God. And these Thessalonians, who had been delivered from idolatry and paganism, they really appreciate the word of God. And they recognize that what Paul was saying was not, or it did not come with man's authority. It came with its own authority from the God of heaven. And therefore, they appreciated the Word of God. And the Word of God would be a great asset to them, a great blessing to them, when persecution would come as it had, and as it had arrived on their door. But not only did they appreciate it, they appropriated the Word. They appropriated the Word also. If we go back to that verse 13, we will see that there are two receives in that verse. Now, the first received is to accept. It means to accept from another. But the second word that is translated received is a different word, and it means to welcome. So the first word, they simply accept from another. That's what he's saying there. But the second receive is telling us something more. It's a step further. They welcomed the word. They welcomed it. We might well say there's a slight difference, and possibly there is. The one is the hearing of the ear, and the other is the hearing of the heart. They appreciated it. They appropriated it. They simply didn't heed it with their words, with their ears. It went into their hearts. It registered in their hearts. They absorbed it. That's what happened. And Jesus warns us about this, or instructs us about this. He says in Mark, talking to his disciples, Mark in chapter four, verse 24, and he said unto them, take heed what ye hear. Take heed what ye hear. There's no need to quote the rest of the verse, but that's basically what he's saying. Take heed what ye hear, he says to his disciples, he says to his people who are following him. And that's good information, it's good for us to take that on board as well, because we are in a day of information overload. We must be very careful what we hear. We must be very careful what we take in with our eyes and with our ears. You can consider, for instance, the internet. It is a great blessing. No one's going to deny that. but it also is wide open to abuse. How many people tell you, I saw this on YouTube, I saw this on YouTube, I saw this on Facebook. And many people are getting their theology, their doctrine, their teaching, their training, whatever, from these sources. And these sources, we have to say, are highly questionable. There will be good things on it, no doubt. But we have to be able to discern We have to be able to judge. And much of the religious nature that we find in these channels will be dubious and questionable. That's why Jesus says, take heed what you hear. But on another occasion, Jesus again warns his disciples. This time we find it in Luke's Gospel. In Luke chapter 8 at verse 18, And this is really what this is talking about here. They appreciate the Word, and they appropriate, because the Word went into their hearts. They loved the Word, they thought upon it, they meditated upon it, and it went into their hearts. And when persecution would come, as it already had arrived on their door, the fact that the Word of God was in their hearts would enable them to stand up to persecution. This is also good divinity for 21st century Christians. Appreciate what God has given to us. Appropriate it, love it, get it in our hearts. Someone said, it's so easy for us to absorb error. It's natural to us. It's somewhat different to love the truth. This is what he's talking about here. and they loved the truth that was in their hearts. But there's another thing, and here's probably the most important thing of all. They applied the word. They applied it. They appreciated, appropriated, and then applied it. What does that mean? It just simply means they obeyed it. When they went out of their gospel meetings on the Lord's Day, and when they began their working week, they took the Word of God with them into the marketplace, into whatever occupation they got involved in, and whatever company they would find themselves in. The Word of God was there, and they were living out the Word of God, obeying it as best as they could. That is always the way it is to be for the Christian. We're not simply to be hearers of the Word, we are to be doers of it. For that is where the blessing lies. And that's where it's most difficult, to actually obey the Word of God. The Christian is to love his enemies. That is not easy. But by grace, that's what's required. Pray for them that despitefully use you, Jesus says. This takes grace. This is what it is to obey the word of God. And when persecution would come from their enemies, they are to pray for them. Pray for those who despise them. That's what they did. And that's the divine, or one of the divine resources that's available to them. Paul was reminding them, the word of God, God's word, that they appreciate and appropriate it. And then they lived it out in their daily lives. Well, what then, secondly, what then is one of the other divine provisions that God has made for them? Well, it's to look at God's people around them. What do I mean? Well, verses 14 to 16. What does it say there? For ye, brethren, became the followers of the churches of God, which in Judea are in Christ Jesus. For ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews, and so on. What is Paul relating to them here? Well, he's relating to them that their persecution and suffering is just like what happened to the first Christians in Judea. We all know what happened there. Many Jews became Christians, and the Jews began to persecute the new Christians. That's exactly what happened to those in Thessalonica. they were persecuted by their own countrymen. The Thessalonians were Greeks, and when these Greek Christians became Christians, it wasn't all easy for them. Those who were idolaters began to persecute them, and they were aided and abetted by the Jews who lived in Thessalonica. And here Paul is telling them, that they are just like the churches in Judea. Now the churches in Judea at this time was the mother church, and therefore they were imitating the mother church. In the first chapter we notice that the Thessalonians, what did they do? They imitated Paul and Silas and Timotheus. And now we find they're imitating, they're following the churches in Judea. they could well have been somewhat despondent and downcast. But no, they were encouraged when they realized that they were living in a time of persecution like the early church in Judea. It can't be the case when people are feeling that they're persecuted and suffering, that they are the only ones who are being persecuted and suffering. They can somehow feel isolated. They can somehow feel that they are being picked upon. But we need to have a wider picture, and we need to realize that what's happening to us, or to you, or to others, is also happening to other Christians. We're not alone. And this is a great sense and source of encouragement. They were facing persecution. We might say, so what? Look at the people in Judea. They're suffering as well. And look at the people in other places where the churches have been formed. They're suffering as well. You're not the only ones who suffer. And therefore, it's a great source of encouragement when you realize that others have walked the same path as you are walking or will walk, as the case may be. This is why the Scriptures are, again, so important and so encouraging to the people of God. You go through the Old Testament, you'll find that the people of God have been persecuted. And therefore, it's nothing new. Rather, it proves the reality of your profession. It shows the genuineness of your union with Christ, that you are prepared to suffer for him. And if suffering comes and the Christian disappears and his profession disappears, well, we only have to conclude that It's not a genuine profession at all. It is not a work of grace. And therefore, we are to draw encouragement. If we are being persecuted as a congregation, as a denomination, or as individuals, we are to realize that we're not the only ones. And is it not a great honor indeed to suffer for being a Christian? Is this not what Peter would say in his epistle? Is it not an honor to suffer for the Lord Jesus Christ, for what he has done? See his sufferings, see all that he undertook in order to save his people? See what happened to him when he suffered at the hands of wicked men? Are we going to be ashamed to suffer Is it not a glory? Is it not an honor? Is it not a credit to us that we're prepared to suffer for Christ? And the very fact that we ourselves might be suffering might be a source of encouragement to others. We have this, therefore, this resource. Let us not be so narrow-minded in just simply looking at ourselves and our own difficulties, however great or however slight they are. realize that there are people in this world today who are really suffering, whose lives are in danger because they belong to Jesus Christ. And surely this should fortify the people of God. And remember, he has said, never will I leave thee, nor forsake thee." Well, there's a third divine provision here, and Paul is telling them thirdly, we get this from verses 17 to 20, that they are to look to the end. They are to look to the end. They are to look at the glory that shall be revealed at the end. This glory that is before all the people of God. Paul, as we said earlier last week, was using this chapter to answer some of the criticisms that were made of him by those who were trying to discredit his ministry. And some of the things that he's written in this chapter are in a response to these criticisms. And this is one criticism that we find here. They were saying, these critics who weren't in the church but were outside of the church, and they were affecting some of the people in the church with their criticism, they were saying something like this, where is he now? He's run away. He's left you. He's got your money. He's gone. He says he's going to come back, but he hasn't come back. What kind of person is he? He's just like all the other charlatans. But the Apostle Paul is telling them here in this verses that he wanted to come back. He tried once and again, but Satan hindered him. We don't know exactly how, but he had a strong desire to get back to the Thessalonians to see how they were doing. He loved them. He not only preached the gospel to them, but he, in some sense, he preached himself, he handed over himself to the congregation. And the very fact that they were separated, it wasn't because he wanted to. And he wanted to get back, but it just could not happen. Satan had hindered him. As it says at the end of verse 18, And therefore, when his critics were saying he's not coming back, well, that may be true, but it wasn't what Paul wanted. Paul wanted to come back. But what he says is, well, I want to come back, but maybe I won't manage to come back. And maybe you'll never see me again. I don't know these things. My times are not in my hands. I'm not a master of my own destiny, but Jesus Christ will come again. That's what he says. And he says in verse 19, for what is our hope or joy or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? For ye are our glory and joy. Paul's not talking about getting a crown. It's in that context, but he's not talking about getting a crown when Jesus Christ comes. Instead, he is saying when he will see his brethren again at the end, it will be like a crown to him. He will see his brethren. He will see them in glory. That's what encourages him, and that's what's to encourage the Thessalonians. Paul would love to see them in the flesh, but he's not a master of his own destiny. These things are not in his own hands. But Christ will come. And this is something you notice in this book of the Thessalonians. Every chapter ends with this theme that Jesus Christ will return. And this is to encourage them to, in their persecution and in their trials that they have as new Christians in a pagan place in Thessalonica, look to the glory that comes before you. Look at it. It's Jesus Christ coming in all his glory. Will you not face persecution then? Will you not put up with that little bit of trial and tribulation because of the glory that lies before you? That's what he's saying to them. And therefore with these things you are ready for discipleship. You are ready to go on. You have the word of God in you. You have this great hope of glory before you. And you have God's people surrounding you with this encouragement. What more do you need? That's what he's saying. And that's what he says to us tonight. Ready for discipleship. Ready to take up the cross. Ready to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.