The Book of Second
Thessalonians: Message Two
By Dr. Michael
Guido, D.D.
One day I
planted a goodly number of azaleas around our
studio, and alongside two or three I put dry
sticks into the ground. The water and food were
put to them faithfully, and one day the azaleas
brought forth their bloom, but not the sticks.
They rotted away. Why? The azaleas had life, and
the sticks didn't. You see, there can't be growth
without life. Have you grown in faith, love and
constancy? You haven't? Is it because you've
never been born again and you don't have life?
This was not so for the Christians at
Thessalonica. Because there was life, there was
growth. Because of the growth, there was the
gratitude. "My brothers," said the
minister, "giving thanks to God for you is
not only the right thing to do, but it is our
duty to God." Let's turn to 2nd
Thessalonians 1:3 and 4 and get a glimpse of
their growth.
Those
Christians had a faith that grew, for to them the
minister wrote, "Your faith groweth
exceedingly." "But," you may ask,
"what is faith?" Some time ago I took a
trip to Washington, DC. As I was walking to the
train, a little, old woman said, "Pardon me,
I'm going to Washington, DC. Is this the right
train?" "Yes, ma'am," I answered,
as I waited for her to get on. But she didn't.
She hesitated. In just a little while the
conductor came to the steps, and she said,
"I want to go to Washington, DC. Is this the
right train?" "Yes, ma'am," he
answered. She got on, found a seat, settled back,
and within a little while she was fast asleep.
She received the testimony of the conductor.
That's faith. In like manner, receive the
testimony of Christ. This is so important, for
there's no area in the Christian life that's
divorced from faith. You're won by faith, for the
Bible says, "By grace are ye saved through
faith." You walk by faith, for the Bible
says, "We walk by faith, not by sight."
You war by faith, for the Bible says, "Your
adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh
about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist
steadfast in the faith." "But,"
you ask, "how can my faith grow?" By
searching the Scriptures, for "faith cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God,"
and by submitting to the Savior. After you trust
the Lord for spiritual needs, you'll trust Him
for your physical needs; and after you trust Him
for little things you'll soon trust Him for big
things. Many years ago a lone traveler came to
the banks of the Mississippi River at midnight
and discovered that the road ended at the water's
edge and there was no bridge. He got down on his
hands and knees, and trembling with fear, he
began crossing the frozen surface. He was halfway
across when he heard singing. Looking back, to
his amazement, he saw a four-horse team pulling a
big load of logs. Where he had been creeping in
fear, one who knew the strength of the ice came
singing with joy. Are you trembling on the
promises of God, or are you singing? It all
depends on your faith. Let your faith grow!
Those
Christians had a love that abounded, for to them
the minister wrote, "The love of every one
of you all toward each other aboundeth." A
very small congregation was engaged in an
election. A little girl, watching her mother fill
out a ballot, whispered, "Mama, why do you
love Mr. Smith so much?" "What do you
mean?" she asked. "You put an X in
front of his name in that box. That means a kiss,
doesn't it? So you must love him a lot."
Yes, Christians should love each other a lot. For
God is love, and if love is absent, the Lord is
absent. A Christian doesn't love because of some
thing on the outside, but because of some One on
the inside - the God of love. William Tyndale was
one of our earliest Bible translators. He
translated the Bible into the language of his
day. But he suffered for the faith, and when they
were cruel to him, he was kind to them. He said,
"Take away my goods; take away my good name.
Yet so long as Christ dwells in my heart, so long
shall I love you."
Those
Christians had a constancy that endured, for the
minister wrote about their "patience"
in all their "persecutions." They not
only accepted the stumbling blocks that were
thrown at them, but they turned them into
stepping stones. You know how pearls are made,
don't you? A grain of sand becomes lodged in the
body of an oyster, and it's painful. But the
oyster produces a substance around that
irritating foreign body and a pearl is made. John
Bunyan was cast into prison. That was painful.
But from that prison came a pearl - for it was
there that John Bunyan wrote Pilgrim's Progress.
He was a young man, but he was stricken with
blindness. Because of his blindness, his fiancee
left him. What a painful experience. But from
that irritation he made a pearl - for it was then
he wrote, "O Love That Will Not Let Me
Go." Endure, and your pain will become your
pearl.
copyright 2000 Guido
Evangelistic Association
All Scripture verses are
quoted from the New King James Version.
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Sower Scripture Study on this book.
This series of messages on
the books of the Bible were originally written
for broadcast on Dr. Guido's radio program,
"The Sower." They are collected and
reprinted here for your enjoyment and spiritual
edification.
