And we continually thank God because, when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it truly is, the word of God, which is also now at work in you who believe.For this cause we also thank God without ceasing that when you received from us the word of the message of God, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, God’s word, which also works in you who believe.For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.And for this cause we also thank God without ceasing, that, when ye received from us the word of the message, even the word of God, ye accepted it not as the word of men, but, as it is in truth, the word of God, which also worketh in you that believe.
9 sermons cite this verse
… listen to what he said. We also thank God without ceasing because when you receive the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it, not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God. That's the receptive heart, which also effectively works in you who believe. It's pretty evident because you have root system. So if you have no root, you'll have no fruit. If you have root, there will be fruit. One brings the other. but as we close this, I want you to notice the very end of verse 20. Jesus gives us a very unusual, I would say unexpected ending. And that is this farmer, this farmer reaps way more than he has sown. He says, they accepted and they bear fruit some 30-fold, some 60-fold, some 100-fold. That is a harvest of 3,000%, 6,000%, and 10,000%. There's something in farming called the seed-to-yield ratio. The seed-to-yield ratio. In ancient times, it was like 8 to 1. you get like a seven to eight hundred percent increase from what you plant this is monumental this is three thousand six thousand ten thousand why because he's speaking about what the gospel empowered by the holy spirit can do supernatural work will bring supernatural results how do you measure conversion how do you measure conversion you can't you can't You can't really measure it because you might have a conversation with a friend or a loved one and you plant a seed, you share a truth, you preach the gospel. …
… For this reason, we also thank God without ceasing because when you receive the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men but as it were in truth the word of God which also effectively works in you who believe. For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches, that means they followed in the footsteps of the churches before them, of God, which are in Judea, in Christ Jesus. For you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, just as they did from Judeans, who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets. And having persecuted us, they do not please God and are contrary to all men, forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved. Verse 17. So as always to fill up the measure of their sins, but wrath has come upon them to the uttermost. But we, brethren, having been taken away from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavored more eagerly to see your face with great desire. Therefore, we wanted to come to you even I, Paul, time and again, but Satan hindered us. Here it is, verse 19. For what is our hope, our joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? Verse 20, for you are our glory and joy. He's already told them in chapter one that Christ is coming to spare you from the wrath. …
… which is able to save your soul. Interesting, in 1 Thessalonians 2, verse 13, he said, the word of God carries... the word it uses here is effective. It's the effective word of God in your heart. The word for effective is the energy of God. So picture it this way. God's energy, and he doesn't run out. When it's windy, he doesn't shut it off. Fires don't scare him. The energy of God is contained in the word that he speaks. here's the deal we had one of our guys was sharing this morning a great testimony we had some students and all in Texas and Joel Power gave this word of knowledge pointed to a lady and said do you have a son name starts with the letter J and God is healing something with his brain come to find out the son as Joshua has autism, has never spoken. And when she got home, he spoke in complete sentences and answered her. Now, you can say those words from now until Jesus comes home and have nothing happen. …
… Now, you remember back in chapter 2, in verse 13, he said, for this reason, we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men but as it is in truth the word of God which also effectively works in you who believe. and then, without turning to it, in the book of 2 Peter, toward the end of that little letter, Peter, the apostle, talks about the writings of Paul, and he said, you know, our brother Paul wrote some truths that are hard to understand, and it's true. They are, in some cases, hard to understand. And he said, because of that, unstable men have twisted what Paul has written. as they do, listen, as they do with other scripture, very important verse. What that means is already in Peter's mind, the words of Paul were considered as scripture, other scripture. So this verse, verse two is very important to me for, you know, what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus. Very early on in church history, the writings of Paul the apostle were considered to be holy writ or scripture revelation from God. He continues verse three, for this is the will of God. I love verses like this because I have so many people that go, I want to discover what the will of God for my life is. Don't you love it when you have a verse in the scripture says, okay, I'm glad you asked. I'll tell you exactly what the will of God for …
… and now he continues in chapter 2, I should say we continue his thought because we left off in chapter 2 verse 12, we continue in verse 13, for this reason we also thank God without ceasing, Because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it. Not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God. Which also effectively works in you who believe. Last week I had a phone conversation with Lee Strobel. Do you remember Lee? he wrote The Case for Christ. Well, Lee is doing research. He's writing another book, The Case for the Bible. So he wanted to interview me for one of his chapters. And he said, Skip, why is it you personally teach the Bible like you teach it and believe in the scriptures like you do? And my answer is simply, I've seen its effect. I've watched it change thousands of people's lives for years, including my own. Start with me. My life was changed because the truth that I heard and the truths I continue to hear and read. …
… which is able to save your soul. Interesting, in 1 Thessalonians 2, verse 13, he said, the word of God carries... the word it uses here is effective. It's the effective word of God in your heart. The word for effective is the energy of God. So picture it this way. God's energy, and he doesn't run out. When it's windy, he doesn't shut it off. Fires don't scare him. The energy of God is contained in the word that he speaks. This is Jesus in print. Some of it I understand. Some of it is mysterious. And that's the fun of the journey. Is it's a relational journey. but he's challenging me and he's challenging you you say you believe in the death of christ yeah i do i really do and you say you believe in the resurrection i do equal to that is what that made possible. And that when you received Christ, you became a new creation and you're dead to sin. As everybody in this room knows, that when you got born again, he didn't remove your ability to sin. …
… this is about the best thing a pastor can say and I can say it about you at Christ's covenant we thank God constantly for this that when you receive the word of God which you heard from us you accepted it not as the word of men but as it really is the word of God which is at work in you believers. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for this great task which you have given to the shepherds of your people that we might be messengers of the covenant in some small way, even like John the Baptist, to point away from ourselves and to point to this Christ who has come and who is coming again. We pray that you might bless each of us, that you might bless Pastor Trent with your spirit in a double measure, and that you might give to all the congregations represented here this great privilege to hear your word week after week.
… You want to be like the Thessalonians. In 1 Thessalonians 2.13, Paul says, For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you received it, you accepted it, not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe. You weren't just sermon tasters. You accepted it not as the word of men, but as the word of God performing its work in you who believe. That is the culmination of how you listen. You listen with an eagerness to be obedient and put into practice everything you've heard. And then we have an illustration of that. Verse 23, if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he's like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror. For once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. …
… And he says this, For this cause also, thank we God without ceasing, because when ye received the Word of God, which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe. Now, I could give many more scriptures, but I have given enough to say without stutter, stammer, equivocation, that over and over and over again in the Bible, the Bible is called the Word of God. Or as holy men of God spake, they're anointed speaking, the apostles and the prophets. Or the words of our Lord are called the Word of God. Now, if the Bible is the Word of God, and it is, there are three inferences. There are three things that must be true. And I hope you're following me. Number one is its absolute perfection. Why? Because it's the Word of God. Does that make sense? Its absolute perfection because it is the Word of God. …