Remember

1 Thessalonians 2: “14 For ye, brethren, obecame followers of pthe churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: for qye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, reven as they have of the Jews:”  [1]

I.   Result

     A. Followers 

     B. Family

II. Remind

     A. Feeling

     B. Foreshadow

III. Renounce

     A. Corrupt

     B. Correct

Introduction: There are some examples in the Bible where being reminded of the past is a good thing.  In our Bible study Wednesday night, Nahum heard from God in his vision that the Judeans should continue in the holy ceremonies and God would honor them in those things.  In other prophecies such as Hosea God warned His chosen people that He was sick of their holy feasts and ceremonies and that he would disregard them.  The title of today’s message is “Remember.”  The gift of memory is an awesome gift sometimes.  As long as the memory of a happening causes growth of character, remembering a past thing is awesome.  If hanging onto a memory causes a person to be stuck in a rut that they cannot get themselves out of; that is a different thing.  It is how we process a memory that decides how we will learn from it.

It really depends on your relationship with God.  If you have not fully accepted the truth that God is omniscient you will be stuck in the notion of figuring who is winning the goods or the bads.  If you continually live to find someone to blame for the things that happened in your life, instead of accepting the truth that God allows what He allows or else He could prevent whatever He wanted to, you will never find the contentment that Paul finally realized.

So many times people have offered this suggestion to someone who had a very hard thing happen in their past.  “Forget about it!”  It was a line in an old movie the best I can remember.  That really is a bad piece of advice and it causes a great need for counselors.  When a person can’t forget about it they often hide it so deep inside that psychiatrists are called in.  If the person who listens is not trained as a Christian counselor, their first step is to find the one to blame because it is never the client’s fault that is going through the stuff.

If you have a relationship with God so that you know to trust Him no matter whether you understand why, it will allow you to wait until His will is made clear.  The memory is still hard but it will not cause you to fall into a rut.  I still miss my parents and my siblings and all those who were so important in my life are now gone.  I still have emotional scars to remind me of the things that I went through but somehow got through them.  Rachael has some that I caused.

God is omniscient.  He knows everything forward and backward and He does not forget.  That reinforces the idea of just how miraculous His forgiveness is.  That reinforces the idea that to be Christian, a little Christ, we will grow in character to the place where we can forgive even though we may never forget.  We learn and we grow when we know how He loves.

Scripture:  Today’s scripture is 1 Thessalonians 2:14.  When you have found it please rise to your feet for the reading of God’s written word.

Prayer: Please be seated

Message:  Tomorrow is a national holiday.  The Jews had Holy Days.  Others have holidays.  They are days set aside to bring memory of how God brought us to the place we are now as we are in His will.  Holy Day, holiday!  Tomorrow is marked as Columbus Day.  We were taught that Columbus discovered the western hemisphere of our planet.  Of course that is not true because nobody dug up this side of the earth.  It wasn’t covered so nobody could have discovered it.  He happened to land here and that’s a good thing.  Otherwise none of us would be here and probably would not be at all. 

Everybody knows that there were already people here when Chris landed here by mistake.  Well somebody has decided that we should not give so much attention to Columbus anymore.  Somebody even tore a statue down that we think looked like him.  Now someone has decided that on the same day we commemorate Columbus we should also commemorate the indigenous people that were here before others invaded and took over this side of the world. 

To have a special time to commemorate those who were here before is really a good idea.  However looking at the flip side of the coin in this time when people are inventing more ways to split us up as a people, maybe some people had a different motive for coming up with this good idea now at this particular time.  God knows out hearts and our motives.

In the first chapter of the first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul commended them for their repentance.  They changed their leaders or the ones that they once followed.  Now they were of use to God in a good way.  Paul reminded them of how the relationship had started but he didn’t stop there.  Paul was joyful that they learned from where they had been so that they too could move to a place of spreading the gospel.

Read 1 Thessalonians 2:1-13.

Now hold onto where you are in 1 Thessalonians and turn with me if you want to as we sidestep to 1 Corinthians 15.  Paul is explaining the resurrection of Christ.  He told them that we learn from following those who have come before us.  In verse 29 the translators of the 1900 edition of the KJV used the word “for” when they translated this from the original Greek.  If they had used “because of” instead of “for” there might have never been a cult called the Mormons.

Paul used an illustration to say that since people learned from those who came before and followed in their teaching to be baptized, if there is no resurrection, why did later people get baptized.  Here is 1 Corinthians 15:29, “Else what shall they do which zare baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not aat all? why are they then baptized for the dead?” [2]  The Mormons use this as the basis for having baptisms for their dead relatives who died before they became Mormon as if they can save them after they die.  Of course we know and understand that our decision to accept Jesus as our personal Savior and Lord is our decision that absolutely must be made before we leave this temporary life.  Nobody can save us except Jesus.  We cannot be baptized so that our dead granny can be saved if she didn’t accept Jesus before she died.

What Paul was saying to the Corinthians is similar to what he was telling the Thessalonians.  As a result of you following those in Judea, now you in Thessalonica are our brothers and sisters.  You followed and now you are family.  Instead of finding blame in those who came through this life before us, God gives us memory that allows us to understand that though we all are not perfect, we can all be changed in the blink of an eye and be useful in His kingdom’s work.

Salvation is the reason that Jesus came and died.  That is the truth.  There is more!  So much more!  As a result of your salvation, now you can become an example for others so that they might not go through life hating but have the same opportunity to love as Jesus loves us.

Paul could have given up on those in Thessalonica.  He could have given up on John Mark and all those who deserted him along the way.  The Holy Spirit led Paul to the place of forgiveness.  He can lead you too.  He is ready.  He is willing.  He is only able if you allow Him to.

I know that there is not a person here who has not suffered at the whim of someone else.  Maybe your memory is different and maybe you have accepted the truth that God is sovereign.  My prayer is that you have accepted Romans 8:38.  Because all things do work together for those who love God and are called for His purpose.  We all have something in our past we once believed would have been better had we not gone through it.  Even God suffered loss through.  He suffered loss the first time I chose to sin against Him by not doing what Momma said.  He suffered loss when I didn’t trust Him and decided to do that stupid thing that changed my life in a bad way.  He suffered loss every time He led me to a place of decision and I turned and walked away.  But He really suffered loss when Jesus left heaven for a time and only returned after we hung Him on that cruel cross.  Yes God knows how you feel when you suffer.

Paul reminded the Thessalonians that there were others who suffered as they had suffered.  The word foreshadow in the outline is not a pleasant word.  It is to say that there will be a darkness that has not yet been realized.  Paul reminded how it feels when someone you trust lets you down.  The people in Judea knew how it felt when their own people were ready to see them gone.  It is a hard thing to believe that people you love even in your own family might one day turn against you.  In order to turn from going the wrong way sometimes a shock must happen to let you know that it is time for a change.  A foreshadow of what is to come.  It is a bad feeling.

Are we to forget that?  If you forget those things there will be no change.  It’s like the definition of insanity.  You know!  Doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result; that is insane.  Do not get over it!  Do not forget it!  Learn from it and forgive the one that hurt you but allow the change that God is bringing you to and He will bring you through!  Renounce the corruption and change direction.  Accept the truth that God allowed it and don’t let hate of the one which God allowed to hurt you cause you to be paralyzed from pursuing His will.  Love them and the truth that God used them for your good!  Otherwise what is the use for the test?

Paul went on to renounce what the Jews had done.  He called out the wrong.  Follow as we read verse fourteen to the end of chapter two.  1 Thessalonians 2:14-20.  There is that great word there at the beginning of verse seventeen, but.  But now we sure would love to come and see you.  Paul took great pleasure as he remembered those in Thessalonica.  It had not been that way when he was there but something changed.  They remembered, but they trusted God with their memories.

Prayer:

Invitation:    Paul was a man who was persecuted even by some in a place called Thessalonica.  Paul was a man who persecuted Christians.  Paul was a man who God used to bring the gospel to people like you and me.  Though he was a Jew he was persecuted by Jews.  It was for that reason that Paul brought the message of Salvation to the Gentiles.  It is for that reason that Jesus decided to use Paul.  I have no idea of the things that others have done in your past just as you have no knowledge of things that have happened to me.  One thing I know, if God can use me, He can and will use you.

There may be things in your past that you cannot think about without anger.  There may be things in your past that you cannot think about without feeling guilt.  I am here to promise you this; you can trust God’s will in all things.  You are here today because the Holy Spirit led you here today.  Are there things that you are carrying that are affecting your ability to forgive?  This is the place to leave them.  There will be no time later after He decides it’s too late.  Others cannot be baptized later so that you can forgive and trust God.  That is a decision that only you can allow God to bring you to and through.  Can you really do all things through Christ who strengthens you or is it only the things that don’t hurt too much?  I cannot take you beyond whatever it is that you are holding onto but He can and I am here to pray with you.  The altar is the place where He makes alterations.  Let Him as we sing…

o Comp. ch. 1:6.
p Gal. 1:22. See 1 Cor. 11:16.
q Acts 17:5. ch. 3:4. 2 Thess. 1:4, 5.
r Heb. 10:32–34.
[1] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., 1 Th 2:14–16). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
z Rom. 6:3.
a Matt. 5:34. See ch. 5:1.
[2] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., 1 Co 15:29). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.