Day 408: Dangerous territory - 1 Thessalonians 2 vs 13 – 16
13 There is also another reason we give thanks to God unceasingly, namely, when you received God’s word, which you heard from us, you did not receive it as the word of men but as the word of God (as it really is), which is now at work in you who believe.
14-15 Yes, brothers, you became imitators of God’s churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus, because you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and who severely persecuted us. 16 They are not pleasing to God and are hostile to all people. By hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved, they are always filling up the full measure of their sins. And the wrath has come upon them completely. 1 Thessalonians 2:13-16 From the Evangelical Heritage Version
The apostle Paul and his co-workers had been thrilled to see how a good number of people in the Greek city of Thessalonica had welcomed the message about Jesus Christ. After hearing of how Jesus died for sinners and how God had raised Him from the tomb, and after seeing the genuine love and sincerity of Paul and the others, and how they were willing to suffer persecution, the Thessalonians were convinced that the message was from God. What happens when people believe the gospel is truly God's message of salvation? (vs 13)
It begins to work in their lives. They experience changes that a merely human message can't produce. We know from other parts of the Bible that those changes include a love that crosses social barriers, and a desire to live in a way that is pleasing to God. People put away idols they used to follow, and sins they used to love, and they embrace honesty and compassion. But believing the gospel and following Jesus as Lord also introduces something dangerous. What is that? (vs 14-15)
It leads to opposition (which can sometimes be very fierce) from those who have rejected the message. These Thessalonians met up with the same sort of hostility from fellow citizens that the early Jewish Christians had experienced from fellow Jews. Through the ages many of the Jews had persecuted the prophets God sent, and then they had crucified the Son of God. Now they were persecuting Paul and anyone who was trying to spread the gospel message. So becoming a Christian actually brings us into potentially dangerous territory. The good news is that Jesus promised to be with His people even to the end of the age.
But if the gospel brings those who believe it into dangerous territory, the territory of those who reject it is far more dangerous. What did Paul say concerning Jews who were so hostile that, not only did they reject the message themselves, but they tried to hinder it from being told to others? (vs 16)
They were actually filling their rebellious ways up to the brim and God's righteous judgement was already overtaking them. Part of His judgement was that God was making their hearts even harder. In Acts 28:26 Paul said that the obstinate unbelief of the Jews had reached a stage where God's message for them was: “When you hear what I say, you will not understand. When you see what I do, you will not comprehend.” It wasn’t many years after Paul wrote these things that their hardness of heart resulted in Jerusalem being totally destroyed by the Roman army.
Yes, believing the gospel has it's dangers – but rejecting it is far worse! There is a verse in the New Testament book of Hebrews which says: “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Perhaps this explains why the Jewish nation suffered so much over the years. And it's why we must not stop praying for Jewish people that they might repent of their unbelief and turn to Jesus Christ for salvation. But let us also take care that we live in such a way that our lives don't hinder others from seeing that the gospel is truly a message from God, and that it will do it's work in all who receive it as such.