1 Thessalonians 2:1–12

¹ For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain. ² But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. ³ For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, ⁴ but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. ⁵ For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness. ⁶ Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. ⁷ But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. ⁸ So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us. ⁹ For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. ¹⁰ You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. ¹¹ For you know how, like a father with his children, ¹² we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

I often think about a comment made by a controversial rabbi some years ago.

Rabbi Joseph Gelberman used to be Orthodox and now he is Reform, of sorts. Once a year in his Interfaith Temple in Manhattan, on Valentine’s Day, he does marriages free. All year round he declares that he is prepared to marry anyone—Jew, Christian, Hindu, gay, straight, believer, nonbeliever. The very genial rabbi says, “I’m not here to please God. I’m here to please God’s people.”[1]

I suppose the rabbi could be commended for his unquestionable honesty…but that is about it! My goodness! What a thing to say!

The shepherds of God’s flock—whatever else they might be—must not be people who say, “I’m not here to please God. I’m here to please God’s people.”

This absurd and, frankly, obscene statement raises a good question: What is a good minister? What is a true minister? What ought true ministers say? In 1 Thessalonians 1:1–12, Paul provides us with a good answer to that question.

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Philippians 4:4–9

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. ⁵ Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; ⁶ do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ⁸ Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. ⁹ What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

A 2009 Christianity Today editorial quotes the famed theologian Karl Barth as saying:

It is astonishing how many references there are in the Old and New Testaments to delight, joy, bliss, exultation, merry-making, and rejoicing, and how emphatically these are demanded from the Book of Psalms to the Epistle to the Philippians.

The editorial continues:

Indeed, from “Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth!” (Ps. 100:1) to “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Phil. 4:4)—and dozens of places before and after and in between—we are urged to lead joy-filled lives.

When believers do a little self-reflection, not many of us point to joylessness as the thing that needs attention. Mostly we flagellate ourselves for our undisciplined discipleship. We issue calls to repent of our consumerism, sign ecumenical concords to heal our divisions, and issue manifestos to care for the poor and the planet. No one has yet issued a joint ecumenical statement on the need for Christians to be more joyful.

Yet it’s right there in the Bible, over and over: “I say it again: Rejoice!”[1]

I think that is a fascinating thought! Think about it: If joy is a command throughout scripture, when is the last time you prayed and repented of your lack of joy? If it is a command, which it is, should we not grieve over the violation of it as much as over the violation of any other command?

Indeed, it is a command, as we find in Philippians 4. In fact, in verses 4–9, Paul lays out a number of elements that should constitute the believer’s disposition.

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I was happy recently to come across a video of a friend of mine. Dr. Mark W. Graham is a professor at Grove City College in Pennsylvania. Mark and I met almost thirty years ago in a Latin class at The University of South Carolina in Columbia, SC. We became quick friends and, though our paths have gone in different directions, I still try to keep up with Mark. Mark is one of the smartest guys I have ever met. And he is a dear brother in Christ. I was happy to find this video. It is a great and insightful conversation.

The original article can be viewed here.

Matthew 16

¹ And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. ² He answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ ³ And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. ⁴ An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So he left them and departed. ⁵ When the disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to bring any bread. ⁶ Jesus said to them, “Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” ⁷ And they began discussing it among themselves, saying, “We brought no bread.” ⁸ But Jesus, aware of this, said, “O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? ⁹ Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? ¹⁰ Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? ¹¹ How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” ¹² Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

“End of road for woman used by ‘pastors’ to perform fake miracles.”

That is the headline for an article that tells a very sad story of something that happened in in Nigeria. (Some of the translation in the article is a bit choppy.)

A 44-year-old woman, Mrs. Bose Olasukanmi who was used by several ‘fraudulent’ pastors to perform fake miracle has been arrested by operatives of the Inspector General of police Intelligence Response Team (IRT) in Lagos after months of trail on her by the undercover operatives.

According to a source close to IRT, the suspect Olasukanmi used to relocate to another church after being paid for every successful performance so that their trick would not be exposed by people or relations who may see her in the drama.

Mrs. Olasukanmi was in an accident and has a broken arm that has never been set and has never healed properly. The false miracles were centered on the alleged healing of her arm. She was paid money to go up on the stages of various churches for the healing. Perhaps most tragic of all, this lady is not even a Christian.

“I am a moslem, but the pastor, prophet Goffrey Abbey would only ask me to bring my hand down and I will start bringing it down as if his power was the thing bringing it down and be jumping up in joy to the deceit of the congregation who often clapped with joy and praising God for the miracle.  I cannot remember the names of all the churches she took me to because their names were not disclosed to me.”

This is simply tragic. These pastors were using a Muslim woman to deceive the people of God and enrich themselves. The woman offers some interesting closing comments:

“My only regret is that I knew that it was a fake miracle performance, which deceived many genuine children of God and enriched the fake miracle performing pastors and prophets…”

“My advice to people who go to church is that they should open their eyes well and know the type of church they are worshipping. If they are careful, they would discover on time whether they are in a genuine church or with fake pastors and prophets.”[1]

It is a fascinating and troubling thing that a non-Christian woman would have to warn Christians about false prophets, but she is, of course, 100% correct.

There is something within human beings that desperately wants to see signs, wonders, miracles, and displays of power. This desire to see wonders can lay the groundwork for some truly pernicious things, as the article just quoted demonstrates. Of course, sometimes the motives behind these kinds of desires are good: a genuine desire for healing or for appropriate blessing. But sometimes they are not good: a desire to test God, a desire to be rich, a desire to have our curiosity satiated.

Matthew 16 begins with men who want to see a sign. It is abundantly clear from the get-go, however, that their motives were not pure!

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Robert H. Gundry is a New Testament scholar of no small reputation (and, occasionally, no small controversy: see here and here) whose work needs to be reckoned with. I find him curious at times and, frequently, quite helpful. So when I saw that he had published a book in 1973 that is considered by some to be the most stalwart defense of the post-tribulational position, I decided to read it.

The Church and the Tribulation is indeed an important work. Agree with Gundry or not, the depth of scholarship in this work, the seemingly exhaustive and careful consideration of the primary eschatological texts, and Gundry’s consideration of the various arguments and counter-arguments lend this work a certain weight. There is way too much shallow writing and thinking about eschatology in the conservative Christian book market, so works of genuine scholarship ought to be celebrated whether they are for your position or against it. Prior to reading Gundry’s work, I would have said that George Eldon Ladd’s The Blessed Hope was the most important work arguing for post-tribulationism that I have read (I do *not* claim that I have read enough to be able to have an opinion on “the most important work” on this or that position overall). Now I would say Gundry’s book is.

The book is a very detailed look at a very large number of passages as well as, at the end, an overview of the historical development of the pre-tribulational position. But to summarize, let us just say that Gundry does not see a pre-tribulational rapture of the church in the pages of the New Testament and does see a great deal of evidence for the presence of the church on earth during the tribulation. He offers a very interesting look at the whole question of the relationship between Israel and the church and offers a pretty strong biblical pushback against dispensational assumptions on this point (showing, for instance, how certain prophecies spoken over Israel were clearly fulfilled in and by the church). Gundry’s section on the Olivet Discourse is also an interesting pushback against certain dispensationalist assumptions and should be considered. The section on imminence is quite interesting and Gundry argues therein that a close examination of New Testament passages concerning expectation and watchfulness apply consistently to a post-tribulational rapture. Furthermore, he unpacks the phrase “the day of the Lord” and persuasively shows that it cannot include the tribulation and is to be applied to Christ’s return at the end of the tribulation.

That day cannot begin until after the revelation of the Antichrist and the apostasy, after the ministry of Elijah, after the celestial phenomena between the tribulation and the posttribulational advent, in short, not until after the tribulation. Paul’s admonition to be prepared for that day and his explanation that Christians will recognize the approach of that day require a connection between the last generation of the Church and the arrival of the day of the Lord. Hence, the Church will continue on earth throughout the tribulation until the beginning of that day. (Kindle Location 1577)

I think, after a first reading (and I intend to re-read this work sooner rather than later), that this is a sufficient conclusion to reach: if one holds to a pre-tribulational rapture or if one is curious as to the question of the timing of the rapture, Gundry’s book should be read. If, after having read it, you still hold to the pre-tribulational rapture, ok. But you will have engaged a serious and substantive counter-proposal in your reading of Gundry’s book and you will be the better for it.

Highly recommended!

Just wanted to post a brief notice that the Genesis sermon series and the Wednesday night Matthew sermon series have now been added to the sermon archives of the Walking Together Ministries site. I had been posting sermon audio and links to the manuscripts on the sermon page of www.cbcnlr.org as well as weekly links in the sidebar of the homepage here, but they are now posted in the archives here as well. All sermons from here on out will be posted at www.cbcnlr.org as well as here each week, like we used to do. Thanks so much!

Matthew 10

³⁴ “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. ³⁵ For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. ³⁶ And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. ³⁷ Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. ³⁸ And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. ³⁹ Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Afshin Ziafat has shared his rather fascinating story with Decision Magazine.

I was born in Houston and grew up in a devout Muslim home. My dad was very involved in the Iranian Muslim community…Growing up, I was taught the five pillars of Islam and told that if I did them to the best of my ability, then maybe I’d get to Heaven.

I spoke Farsi, not English, so God, in His incredible plan, provided a Christian lady who tutored me, teaching me the English language every day by reading books to me. When I was in the second grade, she said, “Afshin, I want to give you the most important book that you’ll ever read in life.” As she handed me a small New Testament, she asked me to promise to hold onto it until I was older…

Every day, I’d read under the covers in my bed with a flashlight so my parents wouldn’t see what I was doing. Meanwhile, at my high school, a Christian student sat across the table from me at lunch and told me about Jesus. I’d debate against him each day, and then at night I’d go home to read more about Jesus.

One day, I got to the Book of Romans, and the third chapter completely changed my life. I read about a righteousness that comes apart from what I do for God. This righteousness comes as a gift to be received by faith. I was struck by Romans 3:22, which says that this righteousness comes to all who believe. I thought I was born a Muslim and would always be a Muslim, but that verse said that this righteousness was for anyone who believes, of any ethnicity. A couple weeks later, a guy invited me to an evangelistic crusade, where I heard the Gospel proclaimed and came to faith in Christ…

I decided to hide my newfound faith. I would sneak out to church, intercept mail from the church I was attending and keep my Bible hidden.

But my dad found out. He’d seen my Bible, and he’d also seen other evidences in my life. He sat me down and said, “Son, what’s going on? There’s something different about you.”

I said, “Dad, I’m a Christian.”

“Afshin,” he said, “if you’re going to be a Christian, then you can no longer be my son.”

Everything in my flesh wanted to say, “Forget it. I’ll be a Muslim.” I didn’t want to lose the relationship with my dad. So even I was surprised when I said, “Dad, if I have to choose between you and Jesus, then I choose Jesus. If I have to choose between my earthly father and my Heavenly Father, then I choose my Heavenly Father.” My father disowned me on the spot.[1]

Ziafat would go on to become a pastor and, by God’s grace, he now has a relationship with his father, though his father has yet to come to faith in Christ. But the story raises a question that is, as we have seen, a most literal question for many people in the world today: if following Christ meant losing the peace of your home and family life or even losing your home or family itself, would you still follow Him? Would you follow Him if it cost you everything and everyone? Jesus speaks to this difficult question in Matthew 10.

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