Trinity Baptist Church

Praying with Paul

Hanging Tough for Jesus

2 Thessalonians 1:11-12

 

Although out primary text tonight is 1 Thessalonians 1:11-12, I want to begin by reading

 

verses 4-5

 

It’s never been easy to be a Christian and this text is a reminder of that.  For over 200 years, we’ve enjoyed a freedom and even an embracing of Christianity that is extremely rare around the world.  In many places, the opposite has been true and Christianity is not only not embraced, Christians are under attack and persecuted for their faith. 

 

I told you recently about Saeed Abedini who is being held in an Iraqi prison because of his Christian faith.  On February 17, 2003, in a city in northern Iraq,

Kurdish convert Ziwar Mohamad Ismaeel was shot dead. 

 

When Ishmaeel became a Christian, his family asked the leader of the local mosque what to do since he had left Islam. The mullah declared him an apostate and recommended he be killed. Some of his relatives captured him and took him out to a remote place, where they gave him the choice of either renouncing his faith or being killed. His friends managed to rescue him and sent him into hiding.  But Ishameel refused to stay there very long as he did not want to show fear. “With Jesus on my side, I have nothing to fear,” he declared. “I have to go back to my family to tell them that even when they kill me, I will never deny Christ.”

He made his living as a taxi driver. On the morning of February 17, he was waiting in a line of taxis for his turn to load up passengers. About 8:30 a.m. a stranger approached the station and began talking with him. Fellow taxi drivers said that Ismaeel offered a cup of tea to the man, who then began to demand loudly that Ismaeel deny his faith in Christ and come back to Islam.

 

When Ismaeel refused, saying he could not stop believing in Christ, the stranger asked him to step aside and talk privately with him. Just seconds later, eyewitnesses said, the man pulled out a machine gun and started shooting point-blank at Ismaeel. A total of 28 bullets were pumped into his head and chest before he fell to the ground, dying on the spot.

 

When the police captured his killer, the man claimed be fulfilling the will of Allah and said, “I don’t feel guilty for doing it.” He was said to be a member of the Islamic Union who had spent two years in Afghanistan. A friend who knew Ismaeel said, “He was always exhorting other Christians to be bold, to not be afraid.” He left behind a wife and five children. (Sources: Open Doors USA and Worthy News)

 

Notice again what Paul said in verse 4

 

“Everywhere I go I boast about your faith and your perseverance.”  Then he goes on to say something that sounds a bit strange, if you think about it.

 

Verse 5

 

What does he mean, God’s judgment is right?

How can it be right for a woman to become a widow because her husband was a Christian? How does the death of a persecuted Christian prove that God’s judgment is right? By itself, it doesn’t prove anything. Persecution is a terrible reality for millions of believers around the world, but that’s not exactly what Paul has in mind. He’s not saying, “Everywhere I go I boast about your persecution,” as if that by itself was a good thing. To say that would be to turn morality upside down, to virtually say that evil has somehow become good. That can’t be right. Evil is always evil.

 

Paul’s boast was not in their persecution but in their perseverance and in their faith. The key phrase is  “that you endure”.  Some translations use the word perseverance.  It literally means to “remain under” something. In this context it describes a person who will not be swayed from his loyalty to Christ even by the greatest trials and sufferings. Perseverance is not merely enduring trials with gritted teeth, but patiently waiting with radiant hope for the dawn of a better day.

 

Then Paul adds something else in verse 5. By your suffering God is making you “worthy” of the kingdom. Another way to say it is, “God is making you fit for heaven.” There are two things we can know when we go through hard times because of our faith:

 

First, our sufferings are noticed by the Lord. The One who sees the sparrow when it falls keeps a watchful eye on his suffering children. Just as a parent has special care for a child who is ill, even so the Lord gives special attention to his children who bear reproach for his sake.

Second, our sufferings have an eternal purpose. They are not random acts of fate. When Mr. Ismaeel went to his taxi stand, the Lord went him. And when his assailant pumped 28 bullets into his body, the Lord stood by his side. And when he died, the Lord was there to welcome him home to heaven. Whatever else we can say about it, we must confess that our Lord makes no mistakes, even though many things in this life have no explanation.

 

I know most of you are old enough and wise enough to know we don’t have a guaranteed future.  The future is uncertain for all of us. But I also told them that the Bible tells us to “Fear not” 366 times. That’s one for each day of the year and one more for Leap Year.

 

And because life is filled uncertainties and surprises, there are a couple of things of which we need to constantly be reminded.

 

First, the Lord is always with us no matter what happens. And second, the Lord makes no mistakes no matter how scary life may seem. Like the little girl said when asked by her mother, “What did you learn in Sunday School?” “I learned that God never says, ‘Oops!’” she replied. There are no surprises with God. Even our trials somehow fit into his plan for us.

 

So with that introduction, let’s take a look at this prayer of Paul in verses 11-12. As he does in other places, he packs a great deal into just a few phrases. This is a wartime prayer. You could summarize it this way, “I am praying for you, that you will hang tough for Jesus no matter how hard it gets."

 

He begins with

 

 

This prayer is simple to outline. There are two requests in verse 11 and two results in verse 12.

 

The first request is

 

 

Verse 11a

 

That’s what the phrase, God would count you worthy of His calling”, is all about.  He’s already said in verse 5 that their faith under pressure was proof that God was making them worthy of the kingdom. Now he prays that God will do what he’s already started to do.

 

Note once again that Paul doesn’t say, “I pray that your trials might go away.” He doesn’t say, “I am praying that your persecution would soon come to an end.” Those are legitimate requests but that’s not how Paul prays.

 

In the spiritual realm there are no shortcuts to maturity. No pain, no gain. Paul understood the evangelistic value of a steadfast faith. “Lord, make my brothers and sisters living proof while they are in the persecution so that the whole world will know what you can do through believers who can take the heat and don’t give up.”

 

The second request is

 

 

 

Verse 11b

 

Translators have a hard time with this phrase because it’s not totally clear what Paul is saying. Let me give you two other versions of this request:

 

The Message says, “We pray that he’ll fill your good ideas and acts of faith with his own energy so that it all amounts to something.”

 

Contemporary English Versions says, "We pray for God’s power to help you do all the good things that you hope to do and that your faith makes you want to do.”

 

We all have ideas but not every idea is a good idea. Not every dream is a good dream, not every goal is a worthy goal. But there are dreams and ideas that are good and worthy because they come from God.

 

Paul is saying, “I’m praying that you won’t waste your life on things that don’t matter. I don’t want to see you come to the end and say, ‘I blew it.’ So I’m praying that you will figure out what really matters in life, and then you will have the faith to go and do it.”

 

The psalmist said it this way:  “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.”

 

In the realm of prayer, when you pray for others, pray that they will pursue godly goals instead of worldly goals, and that they will be given strength to fulfill all that God has for them to do.

 

By the way, this is a powerful prayer for parents to pray for their children. Ask the Lord to give them good dreams and godly goals, and then pray that the Lord will make those dreams come true. Pray that your children will dream big dreams for God and then have the energetic faith to see them come to pass.

 

When we pray this way, we should expect two results.

 

 

The first is

 

 

Verse 12a

 

To glorify the name of Christ means to enhance his reputation in the world. For Ziwar Mohamad Ismaeel, glorifying Christ meant being faithful to the point of death. For all of us, it means living so that others know that we know Jesus and are not ashamed of him.

 

 

Verse 12b

 

I will confess it was hard for me to wrap my broain around this second phrase.  The first part, Christ being glorified in is much easier to process than the second.  We may not accomplish it like we want to, but at least we can understand that we are to live so others know that we know and serve Jesus. 

But what does it for us to be glorified in Him?  What did Paul mean when he used that phrase, “and you in Him”?

 

Think about it this way.  Most of us know what it’s like to be chosen to play on a team.  Some of us even know the disappointment of being the last one chosen.  This phrase is like playing on Kevin Durant’s team.  This past week he said, “No disrespect to anyone else but I feel like I’m the best player in the world”. 

 

But this phrase is not just about being on the team. 

it’s as if you are standing in a vast crowd of people and KD looks at you and says, “I want you on my team.” “But I don’t even know how to play basketball,” you reply. “Don’t worry about it,” Kevin  says. “Just pass the ball to me and I’ll do the rest.”

 

So that’s what you do. You go out on the court in front of thousands of cheering fans with millions of people watching on TV. It’s a heady experience but then you remember, they aren’t cheering for you. They don’t even know who you are. But it doesn’t matter. You’re on Kevin Durant’s team.

 

When the game starts, someone passes you the ball. You don’t even take a step. You just look for KD and throw the ball to him. He then does what only the greatest player in the world can do and the crowd goes wild. He gets the points and you get an assist. As you go back down the court, he grins at you and says, “Nice pass.” And that’s how it is all game long. You get the ball and pass it to Kevin. That’s all you ever do. But that’s enough because he’s the greatest there ever was.

And guess what? Your team ends up winning the game.  Afterward, the reporters crowd around Durant to ask him questions. No one seems to know you were even in the game. But then you hear Kevin Durant say your name. He’s telling the reporters he couldn’t have done it without you. You smile even though you know it’s an exaggeration. He didn’t need you. Anyone could have passed the ball to him. But he chose you, and you did it, and because of your passing and KD’s greatness, you won the game. Kevin was the hero but you share in his victory because you were on his team.

 

As wonderful as that fantasy might be for a basketball fan, something much greater is in store for us. We’re on Jesus’ team. He chose us and he made us starters. We can’t do much, and without him, we can’t do anything at all. The game is long and hard and sometimes it seems like we’re going to lose because the other team is mean and vicious and they cheat all the time.

 

But in the end Team Jesus comes out on top because the Captain of our team is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He’s the greatest there ever was and he’s the greatest there ever will be. We’re joined with him by faith so that when he wins, we win. That’s what it means to be glorified in him. We’re not much but the glory that comes to him comes also to us because he looks at us and says with a smile, “Nice pass,” even though we know he could have done it without us. We share in his glory because we are on his team.

 

That’s the final reward for hanging tough for Jesus.

 

 

Now, when you stand strong under pressure, four things happen:

 

1) You are living proof of God’s power,

2) You accomplish God’s goals for your life,

3) You glorify Christ by your life, and

4) You share in his ultimate victory.

 

What a wonderful way to live. What a powerful way to pray.  There are a lot of people who are experiencing hard times right now. Maybe one of them is you.  Are you perplexed by some persecution you’re going through or wiped out with some worry? God’s word to you is clear: Stand firm. Stay the course. Don’t despair. Don’t give up. One day God will make everything right. Just hang tough for Jesus.

 

There is one final phrase I don’t want us to miss. It tells us how all this is possible and it’s found at the end of verse 12

 

Verse 12c

 

It’s all by grace, all the time. Everything in the Christian life is by grace. We are saved by grace, we live by grace, we hang tough by grace, we die by grace, and we go to heaven by grace.

 

Have you ever experienced the saving grace of God? Some of you have not yet answered the Savior’s call for the first time. Listen. He’s calling your name. He’s knocking on the door of your heart. He’s waiting for you.

 

Will you answer?