As It Actually Is

Good morning. My name is David Sorn, and I’m the Lead Pastor of Renovation Church.

Let me start with a question: What is the Bible?

Is it just another book?

Just another teaching? Or Worldview?

A collection of religious stories of myths?

Or is it the Word of God?

And if it is, what does that mean, truly, for our lives?

Let’s dive into it.

1 Thessalonians 2:13-16

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We are continuing in our teaching series through the letter of 1 Thessalonians.

It was written by one the early Christian leaders, the Apostle Paul.

And it was actually his first letter of the New Testament…

He wrote it to the new Christians in Thessalonica (which is in modern-day Greece) who had endured much persecution already in just the one year they had been following Jesus.

We left off at chapter 2, verse 13

(1 Thessalonians 2:13-16) – NIV

13 And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe. 14 For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of God’s churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus: You suffered from your own people the same things those churches suffered from the Jews 15 who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to everyone 16 in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit. The wrath of God has come upon them at last.

(As It Actually Is)

It won’t be our main focus today, but let me spend just a minute or two on the very end of verse 14 and into 15

Paul says, “those churches suffered from the Jews who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to everyone.”

And so, wicked people, throughout the centuries, have taken those verses completely out of their context, and said, “See, the Bible says the Jews killed Jesus and displease God! They’re bad!”

So what does this verse actually say? Let’s talk about it quickly so you can answer this question intelligently if it ever comes up.

And it might as there is a rise of antisemitism across the globe right now.

So here’s what you can say:

First of all, let’s remember that Paul, the author is himself a Jew!

So he’s not saying, “All Jews are hostile.”

He’s a Jew…who believes in Jesus the Messiah.

Secondly, a good portion of the Thessalonian Christians were also ethnic Jews…who believed now in Jesus.

So this isn’t (as ignorant people have said) Christians ripping on Jews

But the author and half of the recipients are all Jews!

And thirdly, Paul actually has a deep love for the Jewish people.

Read Romans Chapters 9-11 in the Bible to see my point.

There, Paul says that he “LOVES the Jewish people so much, that he would personally go to hell, if it meant the rest of them could be saved”

That’s not antisemitism

So what is Paul saying here then?

Paul is writing to the Thessalonians about a particular group of Jews that continue to be hostile to this new Christian movement.

Not only did this particular group of Jews kill Jesus (but remember, so did the Romans), but they continue to start riots, stone, and beat Christians in city after city.

That’s who Paul is talking about…

YOU ACCEPTED THE WORD OF GOD AS IT ACTUALLY IS

Okay, let’s go back to the start of our passage now.

1 Thessalonians 2:13a

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(1 Thessalonians 2:13a) - NIV

And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God,

(As It Actually Is)

Okay, here is the first thing I want you to see about these amazing Thessalonian Christians this morning:

They accepted the word of God, as it actually is.

Now, I’m going to turn that into a conditional statement that we’re going to build throughout the message.

So start by writing down this part of the sentence:

If you accept the Word of God as it actually is,

And we’ll keep adding to that sentence as we go this morning.

But what is Paul saying?

He’s saying that he came to Thessalonica preaching the Gospel (the good news how to be saved….that the Son of God came to earth to die for our sins and save us from hell…and offer us eternity in heaven)

And when the Thessalonians heard this, they accepted it, not just as another random teaching from yet another religious teacher passing through Thessalonica…

They accepted it as a message from God Himself (which it was)

It wasn’t the Word of man, but the Word of God.

And what the Thessalonians did back then is even more remarkable than what we do today when we come to faith and walk with God.

Today, we have the whole Word of God.

It’s written down and been the same for thousands of years…and God has proven it to be true over and over again.

I’m going to talk more about how we can KNOW this is the Word of God in the House Church Video teaching this week, so don’t miss your group.

But the question for us is: Will you accept it AS IT ACTUALLY IS?

Will you accept it as God’s Word to you, or is it just merely a suggestion…to you?

Like a list of good ideas that you could or could not take.

I was thinking about this this week, and here’s a hot take for you: I actually think that American Christians need to relearn how to go to church.

Hear me out.

Unlike a lot of our brothers & sisters in Christ around the globe, our culture suffers from deep consumerism.

And on top of that, many of our churches have fed into that to attract people with certain types of consumeristic teachings for decades now.

And so a good portion of us, without even recognizing it, come to church each week looking for something to “get out of the message”

We get in the car after and say, “How’d you like the message?”

“I didn’t really get anything out of it” (not here, a different church)

But why do American Christians talk like that?

It’s because we’ve been trained (by the culture or even by churches) to come to church, for the purpose of, either being inspired, to get a good practical tip for our lives, or to be entertained with a good story or new idea.

But I highly doubt that’s how the Thessalonians listened to Paul’s teachings every night.

Paul was telling them the teachings and words of the Son of God.

And the Bible says that they received it, and accepted it.

Meaning, they took it, and were ready to obey it (AS IT ACTUALLY IS)… THE WORD OF GOD.

Now listen, you may not be a Christian, and maybe you’re thinking, “These people are intense...talking about OBEYING THE WORD OF GOD!”

But I hope you can respect our logical consistency

If we say this book has the answers for who God is and the afterlife and how to live…but then we personally treat it just like a book of opinions or options for your life

You’d say, “That doesn’t make any sense”

I’d hope you’d look at us and say, “If you believe this is from God, then you should live like its words are from God!”

But our problem is that we do like some of it (especially the encouraging bits about not being afraid and how God loves us)

…but when this Book says something that we disagree with, most of us no longer treat it like the Word of God.

Let me give you an example you won’t like 😊

When Jesus says in Matthew 23 that we should not neglect justice, mercy, and faithfulness…but also not neglect giving a tenth of our money back to God.

Do you see that as the Word of God or the suggestion of God?

Cuz a lot of us go right into: “Well, my situation is unique…and I need to factor in…and right now I just…”

Or, what about when the Word of God speaks on sexual purity.

God’s Word is not wishy washy or unclear AT ALL when it comes to how He wants us to live on that issue.

But we say, “Well, uhh…no one else lives like this anymore. And does it really matter if you’re in love…and…well…uh…”

But I go back to my original question I started with:

“What is this Book?”

Is it the Word of God or the Suggestion of God?

Let me put it this way:

If Jesus Himself appears to you tonight in your bedroom and reinforces one of those two issues (or another touchy one)…

And He says, “This is my Word to you. Obey me.”

Would you obey Him???

I bet you would!

You’d say, “God spoke to me! I got his Word!”

Well, you have it here too

So as you relearn how to come to church, rather than sitting down each week and saying, “What can I get out of it?”

Sit down every week, open your notebook, open your Bible, and say, “Word of God speak. Like the Thessalonians, I’m ready to receive and accept what you have to say to me…whatever it is”

AND SO IT’S AT WORK IN YOU

And if you can accept this, truly accept this, as God’s Word and Authority over your life, we can move to the next part of the sentence.

It’s the end of verse 13.

Let’s look at the whole verse again

Okay, let’s go back to the start of our passage now.

1 Thessalonians 2:13

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(1 Thessalonians 2:13) - NIV

13 And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.

Paul is saying this:

If you accept the Word of God as it actually is, it will be at work within you

The Bible teaches often that when you let the seed of His Words plant within your heart…God grows His fruit in your life.

The Word goes to work.

I was talking with our Counseling Pastor Dave Anderson this week, and he said that they typically plant a tomato seedlings in a pot every year, and they often wouldn’t get much growth, and they were quite susceptible to disease.

But this year they just planted it in the ground, and the tomatoes just took off and (whoosh) grew like crazy, everywhere.

That’s what this is saying: When you let the word of God actually get in you (in the ground of your heart), and you decide to obey it…God gets to WORK in you life!

Every week, I meet with brand-new believers up here, and one of the things I always tell them is this:

I say, “If you walk this out…and you keep coming here every week, reading your Bible every day, talking to God and growing in your relationship with Him…”

“I can PROMISE you, that in 6 months, you will not recognize yourself.”

And many of them come back to me 6 months later and say, “Pastor David, you were right! God has done so many amazing things! And freed me from so much, and changed my heart, that I don’t recognize myself!”

And here’s the thing: Some of you are going: Well, that’s true for the new believer, but not for me. I’ve been a Christian for 30 years now.

Now, in part you’re right…we do often change quickly when we first give our lives to Christ.

But, also, there’s a reason for that:

The new believer is often so in awe of God in their life, that they just take Him at His Word.

“I’m supposed to start tithing? Okay, uh, not sure how, but, I’ll do it if God says it.”

“I’m supposed to reconcile with people I’ve hurt in the past? That’ll be painful. But if God says it, I’ll do it”

And guess what?

When they obey God like that, what do you think happens??

They see incredible fruit and incredible change!

The word of God is at work within them!

But somewhere along the way, I think we stop obeying like that.

And to us, the Word of God becomes the Suggestion of God.

We lose our reverence for it.

And that leads to a lukewarm faith…and very little change

And so every day before you open your Bible this week, I want you to pray for 10 seconds:

And say, “God this is your word. I will do what it says. No matter what. May it work with in me.”

That’s FAITH right there!

ALLOW YOU TO PERSEVE

And if you do that, that will allow a lot of things to happen in your life

This is what Paul is talking about in verses 14-16.

He says (verse 14) you became imitators of God’s churches in Judea.

How so?

Because they suffered in Thessalonica just like the Jewish Christians were suffering in Jerusalem and the surrounding areas.

And YET…the Thessalonian Christians persevered.

This is the completion of our sentence for today

If you accept the Word of God as it actually is, it will be at work within you and allow you to persevere.

When you have God’s Word and His Spirit working in your heart, you can face the trials that will surely come.

But without it, they will feel impossible to bear.

Look at what Paul said about their suffering back in chapter 1

(1 Thessalonians 1:6) – NIV

You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.

They found JOY in walking with and obeying God…even in the midst of severe suffering!

But the problem is:

We actually believe the opposite of what the Thessalonians believed.

They believed obeying God would bring them joy (and it did)

But many of us believe that if we obeyed the Word of God…it would bring us LESS joy.

Deep down, many of us feel, “if I were to obey what the Scriptures (give up this habit, that not-so-appropriate show I watch, go and ask someone for forgiveness)…

We think, “If I were to do all that God says about those things”…

…it would make our life worse (that’s why we haven’t done it yet!)

Cuz unlike the Thessalonians, we think obedience to the Word, in many cases, is going to steal our joy, not give us joy.

Many picture it like this:

(How We Often Think)

That freedom (and joy) is doing what you want.

And slavery is having to obey God’s Word

Now, I doubt you’d say it that way…

Although sometimes I feel like Christians do even talk that way:

They say, “Well, I guess I’m going to give that up. It’s gonna be hard, and not fun, but the Bible says to.”

We talk about obeying God sometimes like it’s a burden…or worse…slavery.

But listen

(Two Lines slide)

Here is life as it actually is.

When you submit to the leading of God and the ways of His Word, you actually find freedom and joy.

We think surrendering to God is a loss of freedom, but actually, freedom is found in surrendering.

And that is because your Creator (not you), The Great Designer, designed you in such a way that the greatest way you would find life…is in a relationship with Him, walking in His ways.

And his instruction manual says that.

But some of you are trying your hardest right now to go against the instruction manual of the Great Designer.

You’re like the person reading the instructions for the microwave, who says, “I know what it says here, but I think it would be better to just warm up my metal fork with my food inside the microwave!!”

But trust me, it won’t. The designer is right.

Look at the second line. To the right.

To do what you want…and only what you want…is not freedom, but slavery.

And not understanding that has led to the misery of millions and millions of Americans.

They’ve convinced themselves that following every urge, want, and desire, will lead them to freedom.

But it can’t.

And if you try it out…and you…

Sleep around with as many people as you want.

Watch pornography all day long.

Get revenge on the people who’ve hurt you. Thrown down alcohol to your hearts content.

And I promise you, I PROMISE YOU, what it will actually lead to is: Is bondage. Slavery.

But trust me, real life, real joy (like the Thessalonians), real freedom, is found in obeying and trusting God’s good and perfect word.

He designed you to find it that way…and left you instructions to do so.