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Bound To Give Thanks

2 Th 1:1-5

NKJV 1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,  To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other,  4 so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure, 5 which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer; NKJV

Introduction

This is a short epistle of Paul. It has only; 3 chapters; 47 verses; 1,042 words;

In these three chapters you will find the phrase the, "Lord Jesus Christ" more than in any other book of the New Testament.

63 times in 63 verses of the NAS Bible, 9 times in 2 Thes.

4 times in Acts.             7 times in Romans,      8 times in 1 Cor.

4 times in 2 Cor.           3 times in Gal,            6 times in Eph.

3 times in Phil,             1 time in Col,              5 times in 1 Thes.

9 times in 2 Thes.         2 times in 1 Tim.            2 times in Phile.

2 times in James          1 time in 1 Peter.            3 times in 2 Peter

3 times in Jude

Look at verses 1 and 2. I find that very interesting. It makes me want to read this book over and over again.

1.   Bound To Give Thanks for A Growing Faith. 1:3a

       1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly,

NT:3784 opheilo (of-i'-lo); or (in certain tenses) its prolonged form opheileo (of-i-leh'-o);

KJV - behove, be bound, (be) debt (-or), (be) due (-ty), be guilty (indebted), (must) need (-s), ought, owe, should.

Introduction

The word translated bound here in other places is translated, owed or ought. In Matt. 18:28 it is used twice

       Mt 18:28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellow servants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. KJV

A.   Bound To . . Continually Give Thanks. 1:3a¹

3 We are bound to thank God always for you, . . .”

B.   Bound To A . . Congratulatory Giving Of Thanks. 1:3a²

       “. . . as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly,

      1.   When Paul wrote 1 Thes. He expressed concern for these people faith. Look at these verses.

       2.    Paul now brags about their faith to all the other churches.

Illustration         Thankfulness

One night many years ago, Ed Spencer, a student at a seminary near Lake Michigan, was awakened by shouts that there had been a shipwreck offshore from the campus. An excursion boat from the nearby Chicago harbor had collided with a freighter and was sinking. Spencer ran down to the lakeshore from which he could see lights from the boats. A strong swimmer, he plunged into the icy water and started searching for survivors.

For six hours Spencer swam out and back, pulling people ashore, battling stormy waves and powerful undertow. By dawn, he had personally rescued 15 people in as many trips. Exhausted, he sat down until someone spotted two more still in the water. Spencer dove in again and found a man and a woman clinging desperately to a piece of wreckage. He brought them in, too, and collapsed on the beach.

Fewer than one-fourth of the 400 passengers on that boat survived the shipwreck, 17 of them rescued by Ed Spencer. His own health, however, was irreparably damaged by his act of heroism, and he was never able to return to school, ultimately living out his days as an invalid.

Years later, a reporter doing a story on Great Lakes tragedies found Spencer as an old man in a nursing home in California and asked for his recollections of that night. He said bitterly, "The only thing I remember is that not one of the 17 ever thanked me." (Michael Halleen, Monday Moment, 4-28-08)

Application

Bound To . . Continually Give Thanks.

Bound To A . . Congratulatory Giving Of Thanks.

A Growing Faith. How would your faith grow?

2.   Bound To Give Thanks for A Loving Faith. 1:3b

“. . . and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other,. . .”

A.  The . . Affirmation Their Of Love. 1:3b¹

“. . . and the love of every one of you all . . .”

B.  The . . Abundance of Their Love. 1:3b²

            “. . . abounds toward each other,. . .”

Illustration

While on a short-term missions trip, a Pastor named Jack Hinton was leading worship at a leper colony on the island of Tobago.

A woman who had been facing away from the pulpit turned around. "It was the most hideous face I had ever seen," Hinton said. "The woman's nose and ears were entirely gone. She lifted a fingerless hand in the air and asked, 'Can we sing Count Your Many Blessings?' "

Overcome with emotion, Hinton left the service. He was followed by a team member who said, "I guess you'll never be able to sing that song again." Yes I will but never sing it again the same way.

Application

The . . Affirmation Of Their Love.

The . . Abundance Of Their Love.

       “. . . so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience . . .”

A.  The . . Person Boasting. 1:4a¹

       “. . . so that we ourselves boast of you . . . “

B.  The . . Place Of The Boasting. 1:4a²

“. . . among the churches of God for your patience . . .”

       1.    Note this is not the so-called universal church.

Illustration

In The Eye Of The Storm, by Max Lucado, contains a story about Chippie the parakeet. It seem's the bird's owner was cleaning the cage and accidentally sucked Chippie into the vacuum cleaner. Quickly the homemaker shut off the vacuum and retrieved the stunned, but alive, parakeet. He was covered with dust and dirt.

She rushed him to the bathroom and gave him a quick rinse from the faucet. Then realizing that he was shivering she reached for her hair dryer and blasted him with warm air until he was dry.

A friend called a few days later to inquire after the bird's recovery. "Well," reported the pet owner, "Chippie doesn't sing much any more. He mostly just sits and stares."

Application

The . . Person Boasting.

The . . Place Of The Boasting.

4.   Bound To Give Thanks for Enduring Faith. 1:4b-5

        “. . . and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that         you endure, 5 which is manifest evidence of the righteous
judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer; NKJV

A.   The Faith That . . Endured In Persecutions. 1:4b

        “. . . and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure,

       1.    Recent destruction from the Homo-sexuals in a California Church. We better get ready.

B.   The Faith That . . Endears In Persecutions. 1:5

5 which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer; NKJV

Explanation

              Their heroic endurance is so unusual it indicates a Devine source. God must be strengthening them. It also shows the world God will allow them to suffer because He allowed His own Son and His children to suffer. Erdman Book page 83

Steadfastness in these kinds of trials only comes from the strength God gives. Ryrie Book page 93

They did not attain their salvation through suffering: they demonstrated it, . . .” Holman Commentary page 90

Illustration         Francis Jane Crosby Frances Jane Crosby (March 24, 1820 – February 12, 1915) usually known as

Fanny Crosby. One biographer wrote of her, "...in her day, she was considered by most people to be the greatest in America. As
Johann Strauss reigned in Vienna as the "Waltz King", and John Phillip Sousa in Washington as the "March
King", so Fanny Crosby reigned in New York in the later nineteenth and early twentieth century as the "Hymn
Queen".   Although blinded by an illness at the age of 6 weeks, she never became bitter. One time a preacher sympathetically remarked, "I think it is a great pity that the Master did not give you sight when He showered so many other gifts upon you." She replied quickly, "Do you know that if at birth I had been able to make one petition, it would have been that I should be born blind?" "Why?" asked the surprised clergyman. "Because when I get to heaven, the first face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my Savior!"

One of Miss Crosby's hymns was so personal that for years she kept it to herself. Kenneth Osbeck, author of several books on hymnology, says its revelation to the public came about this way: "One day at the Bible conference in Northfield, Massachusetts, Miss Crosby was asked by D.L. Moody to give a personal testimony. At first she hesitated, then quietly rose and said, 'There is one hymn I have written which has never been published. I call it my soul's poem. Sometimes when I am troubled, I repeat it to myself, for it brings comfort to my heart.' She then recited while many wept:

       Someday the silver cord will break,

              and I no more as now shall sing;

                     but oh, the joy when I shall wake

                            within the palace of the King!

                                    And I shall see Him face to face,

                                           and tell the story--saved by grace!

At the age of 95 Fanny Crosby passed on and on her grave in Bridgeport, Conn., there is a simple little headstone with the name "Aunt Fanny," and these words:

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine.

Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine.

Paul said, Dear brothers and sisters,

we can't help but thank God for you, . . .”