Having Received the Word
This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.
We're back to this incredible epistle, 1 Thessalonians, where Paul writes this epistle to this beloved church, and he gives thanks to God. He tells them, always, for all of you, and he does this because he remembers some things, and he knows some things, and he remembers, without ceasing, their work of faith, their labor of love, steadfastness of hope. And then he knows that these brothers, beloved by God—he knows, first of all, they're beloved by God, and secondly, he knows they are the elect of God. The reason he knows that is not because he was able to peek into the secret counsel of God and read that into the secret counsel of God, but rather, he knew that he could read their election through their effectual calling, and he could really affirm and confirm the effectual calling by what it produced in them, namely, all of these virtues, all of these wonderful evidences of grace that he lists in the rest of this chapter.
We began to look at this together the last few weeks. Tonight, we come to verse six, and I want us to zero in on this clause: “having received the word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit”, and we'll pick up the rest next Lord's Day, Lord willing. Having received the word, he says, "'For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, having received the word,'" and that gospel coming, coming in power—he said—"'produced in these people a receiving of the Word.'" You need to see the connection.
Now, what does this little phrase, having received the Word, mean? What does it mean? There are two main words used in the New Testament that can be translated as receive or receiving or received. One of them simply means to accept something, to take something into one's possession without any indication of how it is taken. That Greek word is the Greek word *lambano (λαμβάνω )*. You might receive, for example, a ticket from a police officer when you're stopped. I doubt that you'd receive that with joy or any relish. You just simply receive it. One word in the New Testament that means simply to take something, to receive it, you accept it regardless, *lambano (λαμβάνω) *.
Another word is used which has a strong, strong overtones of receiving rather with delight. To receive with delight. It's a welcoming, appropriating reception. That's the word *dexamenoi (δεξάμενοι )*, and that's the word that is used here by Paul under inspiration—to accept an offer deliberately, readily, to accept something with open arms, to welcome it, to rejoice in it. He said you received with a welcoming, with an appropriating reception, the Word. In much affliction and with the joy of the Holy Spirit.
This is the word used when it speaks of Simeon in the Gospel of Luke, chapter two, verse 28, translated took—he took, he *dexamenoi (δεξάμενοι )*, he welcomed, he received with delight—Him, the babe, Jesus, into his arms and blessed God. You recall when Mary and Joseph brought Christ up to the temple according to Old Testament law and Mary came with her sacrifice and he, Simeon, received the babe into his arms. There was a welcoming reception and then that wonderful burst of praise to God for His so great a salvation. That's the word.
Same word is used in Hebrews 11:31, where Rahab, we're told, welcomed the spies. She received the spies. She didn't simply open her door for them. You remember, she cared for them. She hid them. She welcomed them into her home and it was an appropriating reception. Same word used in Acts, chapter three, in verse 21, where it says of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom heaven must *dechomai*—receive, welcome—until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. How had heaven received our Lord Jesus Christ? Well, He was received with joy, with delight as the King of Glory.
Well, that's the word used and it's in that connotation that Paul says here, having received, having received, having welcomed, having welcomed. You received, you welcomed with open arms. Your hearts, in fact, went out and embraced with an appropriating reception. What? Well, notice the word: having received, the Word, the Word. Now, we could spend, really, three, four weeks on just this little phrase, the Word. It's the very word used for the title of our Lord Jesus Christ in John 1:1, *Logos (Λόγος) *. "In the beginning was the Word, the Logos, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." But here, in this passage, as in many others, the term here, *Logos (Λόγος) *, or that phrase, the word, speaks particularly in context of the message of the gospel, the saving message.
Many usages, but here and elsewhere, it means the message concerning salvation, the attainment of salvation, the obtaining of salvation in the kingdom of God through the person Jesus Christ. It's a message that comes declaring man's absolute ruin by the fall. It's included in that message. It's a message which comes declaring man's redemption by none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, the one and only Mediator. It's a message that comes declaring the necessity of regeneration by the Holy Spirit. It's a message that comes with overtones demanding repentance and urging men to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's the message that Paul proclaimed wherever he went, the message of the gospel. In fact, it's the word used in 1 Corinthians 1:18 for the—some translations have it the message of the cross, but it is—the Word of the cross, the *Logos (Λόγος) * of the cross. He says, "For the Word of the cross is foolishness"—he's referring to the message of the gospel. It's foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is what? It is the power of God." It's the same word used in Colossians 1:5, where we read, "because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth"—and then he specifies—"the gospel," the message of the truth of the gospel. It's the gospel.
Now, going through the Scriptures and finding these references to the word or message of the gospel, then we must ask the question: what did that word or message contain? What is bound up in that Word, in that message? And the only way to find out is to go to the men that preached it. And when you turn to the book of Acts, for example, you turn to the epistles, you find that it was a distinct message. It was a distinct message that had specific ingredients. And you find out also that it was a final, absolute, unalterable message.
So final, so unalterable that the apostle Paul said to the Galatians in chapter one—you remember that passage—he said, even if I come back to you or you have an angel stepping out of heaven and proclaiming to you any other gospel, an *heteros (ἕτερος) * gospel, another of a different kind gospel, any other word, any other message, he says, let him be anathema, let him be accursed. And then he says, again, I say unto you, let him be accursed.
So when Paul says that these people received, they welcomed with delight—they welcomed with an appropriating reception—the word, he was speaking of nothing less than that message that comes from God with specific ingredients concerning the rights of God, the sin of man, the redemption of God exclusively in Christ, and the demands of God for repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That message committed once and for all for the salvation of sinners. This is what Paul is talking about.
And he says, these people here, there in Thessaloniki—he says, they received the Word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit. Now notice, he says, having received the Word, the *Logos*, having received the Word—not part of it, every word is inspired—not part of it, not a fraction of it, not most of it, not two-thirds of it, but you received the Word, the entirety of the message, all of it, the full counsel. They received all of it.
You know what that means? That means that they received the negative aspects of that message as well, the negative aspects of that message. And part of receiving the message of the gospel is accepting the bad news that it contains as well. That's the backdrop, the bad news, the bad news concerning man's absolute ruin by the fall. No one receives the word who doesn't welcome—even though it's painful—to welcome that terrible indictment that comes from heaven saying, "Thou art a guilty, wretched, vile rebel, a hell-deserving sinner." And until you know this, you haven't received the entirety of the message.
You see, there's no receiving the Word apart from receiving the awful overtones of man's judgment, the terrible scandal of the cross, that in the bloody form of the Son of God, you find the only hope of salvation. The terrible scandal of the cross, the terrible stumbling block, this thing that was to the Jews, that He who was God became weak, was crucified through weakness. He, though being rich, yet for your sake became poor so that you through His poverty might become rich—2 Corinthians 8:9. And yet they received the whole thing, all of it. That message concerning God's way of saving sinners, and they received it into their heads in the knowledge of it. That's involved in receiving it, to receive it into the head, but also to receive it into their hearts.
That's what also took place in the effectual belief of it, and then into their lives in the practical obedience to it, the surrender of the will, the submission of the will. That's what happened here at Thessaloniki. They received the Word—head, heart, and hands—the entirety of the person, they received the Word. Now, to receive the Word in the biblical sense means nothing less than that, beloved.
And may I draw several observations by way of application at this point before we continue, before looking at the little phrase, how they received it in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit? What is the first indication that God is making His Word come with power and the Holy Spirit into the heart of man? What is the first indication? And the first indication, beloved, by way of application is that he begins to warmly embrace the Word. That's the first indication. He begins—the sinner begins—to warmly embrace the Word.
That is bound up in the meaning of the word, *dékhomai (δέχομαι) *, to welcome with open arms, with joy, with delight, and appropriating of the word with that kind of attitude. The first indication of the effectual calling of God is the hearty embrace of the word. Let me illustrate this from a passage of scripture that joins these two together beautifully. In John 6:44 and 45. Remember that passage? We studied it together. Our Lord says, "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day." Well, how does God draw? How does He draw? How does God draw men to Himself? That drawing without which men will not come, cannot come.
Well, how will He draw? Does He draw by some kind of a magical coercion? No, He draws by a way that is mysterious to us, but it's not magical. For notice the next words, "For it is written in the prophets, or it is written in the prophets, And they shall all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me." When a man begins to hear and learn from the Father, he is not far away from coming to Christ. So how does God draw? Well, God draws by causing the word to come with power and causing sinners then to begin to welcome the word. There's that warm embrace.
One of the most blessed signs to me as an undershepherd that God is beginning a work of grace is when I see someone who has been so indifferent to the word of God, so indifferent, so laid back, so, well, who cares attitude, to see that person beginning to search the Word earnestly, earnestly, and begin to cry to God that he'd understand the scriptures. Oh, I have high hopes for that person. I don't care how long it takes God to do the work of revealing His Son. He knows what He's doing. You could tell they're hearing, learning from the Father, and when they begin to hear and learn from the Father, won't be too long before they're drawn to the Son.
And that's what Paul recognized in these beloved people there in Thessaloniki. For our gospel did not come to you in word only, he tells them, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit with full assurance, just as you know what kind of man we proved to be among you for your sake. You also became imitators of us and of the Lord. Why? Having received the Word. Having received the Word. The first indication of the effectual call is a warm embrace of the Word of God, a warm embrace of the word of God. Several examples. We have the principle stated in John 6. Let's look at several examples in the book of Acts where this very word, having received the word, is used. Acts chapter eight, turn with me very quickly. Acts 8:14. I want us to see this together. This is really important for us.
Acts 8:14. We read there, "Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had"—what? See, the same expression—"received the Word of God." Now, what does it mean, received? Does it mean they simply were exposed to the preaching of the apostles? No, for the same strong word is used here, *dékhomai (δέχομαι)*. They welcomed it with delight, with an appropriating reception. They appropriated the word of God from the heart. They welcomed it.
You can read about it beginning with verse five. If you go, if you back up in the same chapter, they welcomed it. Now, Philip, verse five. "Now, Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began preaching Christ to them. And the crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was being said by Philip." Now, go to verse eight. "So there was"—what?—"great joy in that city." There was a warm embrace. There was joy, exuberance, the reception of the word of God.
You see the Father drawing, how? Not magically, in mysterious ways that we cannot put down and trace them out. One, two, three, four. Yes, for the scripture says the ways of the Spirit are like the wind, right? There's an element of mystery, but it's not magic. It's by the means of the Word of God, the living, active Word of God applied, the power applied through the Spirit. And so as the Spirit of God worked in Samaria, people received the Word, and then these blessed fruits followed.
It's the same word used of the Bereans in Acts 17, while we're still in Acts. Acts 17: 11, we read, "Now these were more noble-minded"—Acts 17: 11, with reference to the Bereans—"now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessaloniki, for they received the word with great eagerness." They received the Word. Same thing, same expression. They welcomed it. They appropriated it to themselves.
And now the Scripture states categorically, and I want us to look at it so that there would be no confusion in anyone's mind. This is crystal clear in scripture. The Holy Spirit-inspired record, 1 Corinthians 2:14, is the text that uses the same word, the same word, *dékhomai (δέχομαι)*, where we read, "But a natural man"—the natural man, what is that man? It's the man devoid of the Spirit's operation. The Spirit's operation. Here's the Word. The natural man does not, what? dékhomai (δέχομαι). Does not accept. Does not receive with delight. Does not embrace from the heart. There's no warm embrace. The depths of the Spirit of God. He does not receive the depths of the spirit of God. There's no joyful, delightful, warm embrace of the things of the Spirit. The natural man, the man who's yet a stranger to the working of God in grace, he does not receive the Word. Oh yes, he may be exposed to the Word. He may even have the Word fall into his mental categories. In fact, he may be able to give back the plan of salvation as he heard it. He may be able to give back some of the substance of the word, but the word used here is that same word, dékhomai (δέχομαι), to welcome, to receive into head, heart, and life. And the Bible says he can't, he can't do that. He says the natural man does not accept the depths of the Spirit of God, why? They are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are what? Spiritually examined."
There must be an ability to embrace the Word this way, and this ability is nothing less than the mighty, powerful working of God the Holy Spirit Himself. And so the lesson of this text is tremendous for us. And let me pause and address the parents here in our midst. As you pray for your kids, as you pray for your little ones, what should you consider some signs that God may be beginning the work of grace in them? What should you take as a sign? I believe here's a good one: when those kids begin to show an independent thirst and hunger for the Word of God, they begin to welcome the Word of God with a warm embrace. And you find that even when they know you're not checking on them, and you look out the corner of your eye sitting in a service like this, and you see them sitting beside you or sitting in front of you or behind you, you see them with their mouths open drinking in the preaching of the Word. When you find them of their own accord reaching out after the Word of God, that's when you ought to begin to give thanks to the Lord when you pray for your kids. That's maybe God beginning a work of grace.
Not when they can parrot something. That may be nothing but the work of producing little Pharisees. Not when simply they can model it, but when it is evident that they begin to truly receive it with joy, and there's that warm embrace, and there's that insatiable desire for it. Have you received the Word? Are you receiving the Word this evening, tonight, as you hear? Is your heart reaching out? Are you welcoming it with a glad appropriation? Or are you simply being exposed to it? Are you really receiving it with joy, or are you just can't wait for the service to end? The first indication of God's effectual calling is just that.
Secondly, second application from this little phrase, the primary characteristic of a true Christian is that he has submitted to a specific body of truth. He has submitted to a specific body of truth. Having received the Word, you received it as it came is the implication. You didn't pare off any of the rough edges of the Word, of the message. You didn't tamper with it. You didn't water it down. It wasn't like a spiritual buffet—well, I'll take this, but I'll leave that out. You didn't bring it through the sieve of human understanding. You didn't press it into the mold of human prejudice. You didn't try to shape it after the disposition of carnal desires. No, no, no. Paul said, just as it came to you, you warmly embraced it. And you didn't seek to alter it one bit. That's the reception that he's talking about.
That's a genuine child of God, a man who, among other things, has been exposed to a given message and has embraced that message in total and completely embraced it, and he has sought to receive it as it is, not alter one iota of it. A Christian is a man who has submitted to and embraced a different course of authority, even the Word of truth. Notice what our Lord said in John 17, where He prayed for His own. In praying for His own, He gives us some beautiful descriptions of a Christian, and this is one of them.
In John 17:6-8, we read the following. Our Lord is speaking, I have, or praying—"I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your Word." Just as I gave Your Word to them, they kept it. They kept Your word just as I gave it to them. They received and kept it. Now, verse seven: "Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; for the words which You gave Me I have given to them, The words, the specific words—not just thoughts—but I've given unto them the very words that You have given Me, and what? What's the next phrase? "And they received them." Not some of them, not portions, not bits and pieces, but all of them. That's the Lord's description of a Christian, of a disciple. He has received the words of God. He's embraced the words of God. He seeks by the grace of God to keep the words of God. Fully, completely, all of it.
You don't get to pick and choose. They don't judge those words. They submit to those words. They align their lives with those words. They regulate their lives by the word of God, and under the word of God. They don't tamper with the word. They don't tamper with the message to bring it in line with their thoughts, but they seek to bring their thoughts in line with the message. They don't seek to bring the word to be subject to their own judgments, but they allow their judgments to be subject to the word. They're constantly reforming, aligning with the word, conforming to the image of Christ.
Let me ask you something this evening, dear child of God. Are you convinced—are you convinced—that if you throw off the absolute authority of the Scripture, you have no grounds from now on to even claim that you're a Christian? And I really, I feel myself compelled to speak a word of warning to us as God's people. There's even in our evangelical circles, emerging not a great big red ax over the doctrine of the absolute authority and the inspiration of the Scripture, but you know what there is? There's a little dim gray question mark way up in the right-hand corner, as it were.
Do you see the difference? If somebody came to you this evening after the service with the Bible and had a great big thick red marker and put a big red ax over the whole thing and says, now that's what you ought to do with your Bible, just cancel it out. It is not trustworthy. Discard of it, just get rid of it. It's not trustworthy. I mean, your eyes would be up in horror, wouldn't you? But now if he held it out and said, the whole thing is the Word of God, but a little fuzzy gray question mark over a word here, a word there, and this and that and the other, right-hand corner, you may be tempted to kind of overlook that as pretty harmless, and I feel that's what's happening even in evangelical circles. Little fuzzy question mark.
Oh, yes, that the Bible, you know, seems to teach fiat creation, that God actually broke in and created life, created everything out of the womb of nothing, but there's a question mark. There's a question mark. Maybe the Genesis account of creation really isn't that literal. Maybe it's not that reliable. Maybe evolution is real. You know, God is behind it, but maybe it is, maybe not. The Bible seems to teach this, but, beloved, listen, a Christian is someone who has received the Word as it has come to him in its totality with all of its difficulties as well as with its promises of joy and blessing, and I don't want to belabor the point, but I do want to state it sufficiently to make the point.
Would to God, would to God, that it could be said of us every time we opened the Word, we opened the Scriptures, every time the Scriptures are proclaimed and read. Now, what Paul could say of these people as he does in 2:13—we'll enlarge on it, Lord willing, more when we come to that. Notice what he says. Same letter, 1 Thessalonians 2:13. Would to God, this could be said of us every time we opened the word of God. 1 Thessalonians 2:13: "And for this reason, we also give thanks, we also thank God without ceasing that when you received the Word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the Word of God, which also is at work in you who believe."
What a wonderful thing for a servant of God to be able to say that about a congregation. And he says, this is what makes me thankful to God above all else, that when we came saying, thus says the Lord—now remember, Paul simply opened up the Scriptures, the Old Testament Scriptures. Remember the setting of this in Acts 17, the birthing of the church? He went into the synagogue, he reasoned out of what? Out of his own, you know, imagination? No, no, out of the Scriptures. Verse by verse, phrase by phrase. But he said, when you people saw me, going through the scrolls, and proving from the scrolls that Jesus was the Messiah, you saw beyond the scroll and the parchment, you saw beyond the messenger, you saw the God who made you. Receive the word with joy.
He says, thank God you received it as the Word of God. And I trust, beloved, when you sit here Sunday by Sunday and see beyond the black book and beyond the messenger, and you receive it as the Word of God. Do you? If you do, do you know what's gonna happen? You're gonna be an imitator, an example. And from you, the Word will sound forth. And all these other effects will follow if you have the cause, having received the Word of God.
Two principles, then, I see in that phrase. The first indication of the effectual call is a warm embrace of the word. Secondly, a Christian is one who received a definite body of revealed truth, all of it. And the third thing, I'll only touch on it briefly, because I do wanna get to the little phrase "in much affliction with joy of the Holy Spirit."
Thirdly, the only hope for such a reception of the Word in ourselves and others is what? The only hope to have that kind of reception of the Word, that warm embrace, in us and in others, is the mighty, the mighty work of the Holy Spirit. There's no other way around it. The mighty work of the Holy Spirit. Paul says, our gospel came in power, you received it, and the two are inseparable. If it doesn't come with power, it will not be received like this. Or it may be received in the first sense of that other word, like *lambano (λαμβάνω )* I received a ticket begrudgingly. I'll admit that's true, but it won't be received with the warm embrace and appropriation.
Why? Because the Bible tells us, "But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him." Well, let's press on with the remaining time that we have.
What circumstances attended that reception of the Word? What circumstances attended the reception of that Word? Paul touches on them here, there are two. He said, having received the Word, how? This is the first one, in much affliction. That's the first set of circumstances. And the second one, with the joy of the Holy Spirit.
Someone said, and I quote, it's a good reminder, "an age out of fellowship with martyrs is neither noble nor blessed, however prosperous." End of quote. It's hard for us to understand this little phrase, having received the Word, in much affliction. Much affliction. It's hard because most of us, for the most part, do not know experimentally what much affliction means. This is the word used throughout the length of scripture, translated in some places, tribulation. It's the Greek word that we're familiar with, *thlipsis (θλῖψις) *. *Thlipsis (θλῖψις) *. It means to crush, to press, to compress, to squeeze. Which is from the Greek word, *thlao (θλάω) *, to break, trouble, tribulation, affliction. Often a metonym for evils, by which one is pressed, calamity.
Paul, and it's strange to say it, but Paul assured all of his converts that just as surely as they had a common lot in their sinfulness, common lot in their Savior, in their hope of heaven, he always assured them that they're going to have a common lot in their affliction, in their suffering. Notice what he said, new converts there, Acts 14. From a human perspective, what a strange thing to tell a bunch of new converts. If you want to get them discouraged and send them back to the leeks and onions and garlic of Egypt, just tell them what Paul told them. What a way to confirm the disciples.
But look at this, Acts 14: 22. Well, let's back up to verse 21. In verse 21, Luke, under inspiration, said this, that they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, places where they preached the Word of God before. Now, verse 22: "strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, 'Through many afflictions we must enter the kingdom of God.'"
I thought you'd go to new converts and tell them how wonderful it is that everything, you come to Jesus, and everything's gonna be blessed and happy and joyful and peaceful, and it's gonna be, I mean, a smooth ride, a smooth sailing, a walk in the garden. You receive Christ, and you're just gonna be like sitting by the French Riviera, putting your feet up, sipping iced tea. No, no, they went back and strengthened the souls of the disciples by telling them the truth, saying, roll up your sleeves. Through much affliction, you will enter the kingdom of God.
He told the Philippians, in Philippians 1:21, it has been granted, it was a gift of grace to you, not only to believe in His name, but to suffer also for His namesake. He told these Thessalonians in this first letter, chapter three, verses three and four, I'll only read them because we hope to come to them eventually and expound them, "so that no one would be shaken by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we have been destined for this. For indeed, when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction, just as it happened, and as you know."
How could Paul be so sure that everywhere he went, he told these people, sooner or later, face it, you're gonna have a tough time? You're gonna face it. On what basis could he make such an assertion? And I believe, personally, he had conveyed to him the words that our Lord said to His disciples shortly before He went back to heaven.
Remember what those words were in John 16:33: "In the world, you have, *thlipsis (θλῖψις)*, you have tribulation, *thlipsis (θλῖψις)*, afflictions, but take courage; I have overcome the world." And if our Lord Jesus says to His own, "you have tribulation," then Paul had no qualms that wherever he went, saying, listen, sooner or later, if you're not in the crucible now, you will be in it, you will— and remember the word, **thlipsis (θλῖψις)* tribulation or affliction comes from a word which means to put pressure upon, to squeeze, to press. That's what affliction is. It's experiencing the vice-like jaws of pressure.
The pressure may sometimes come through actual physical abuse. That's what happened to those early converts. You remember Paul had been, hardly had been long enough to establish residence when affliction started. They grabbed the fellow who was taking care of him, being his host, they wanted to abuse him, and he had to give them some sort of a surety, sort of a payment to get them off his back, and Paul had to leave town quickly. The gospel was planted in the midst of affliction, persecution. These people knew experimentally that through much tribulation, they had to enter the kingdom of God, and it would seem according to the words of our Lord that just as all believers have a common lot in poverty of spirit, in meekness, in mourning, in hungering, in thirsting, He says in the last beatitude in Matthew 5: "'Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.'"
Now, there are times when perhaps that pressure does not come so much with physical abuse, but it comes, how? It comes through the pressure of what? Being cut off, ostracized, canceled out, pressured out of the circle of friendship, and it's a terrible commentary in Human Depravity how people can be so nice and yet make it obvious that they're so called to us. That's affliction, that's real affliction, that's real suffering.
In fact, I think the suffering of rejection is perhaps the deepest form of suffering there is, is that the inner suffering and affliction that comes with it, why? Because you see, the Christian exposes the world, the worldling, because of his culture pattern, because of the common grace of God restraining in society, he may not feel free to pick up a stone, his culture, his society said, well, you must, you know, smile, but in his heart, you sense the pulse of his heart as well as see his mocking, empty smile, his heart is a heart that says, if I could, I would pick up a stone.
Scripture says all Christians will have a part in that one way or another, the affliction, the tribulation of rejection, openly, overtly, or covertly, it matters not, and perhaps this is why this church was so influential, how the word sounded forth. For you see, when people are recruited in time of war, they don't join the army to see the world through, you know, a vacation or a portal, the 19-year-old who signs up, who knows, who knows in six months' time where he's going to be, and you may not get so many volunteering, but those that do, they know what they're in for, and they make better soldiers.
And in the history of the church, one of the great principles that unfolds is this, that when the church of Jesus Christ has been at war, and the lines have been clearly drawn, and the forces of hell and darkness have been arrayed against the people of God, and the persecution and affliction break up above ground, you don't have as many, quote, volunteers. Those that know that they're in for blood, possibly for death, they make far better soldiers. And, beloved, it may be true—many of us, where we are, are going to be called upon to prove the reality of our profession, our faith, our reception of the Word, by seeing if we still welcome it in much affliction, however way that comes. Because you know what affliction does? Affliction reveals whether or not you're merely retaining the word on the surface of the life, or whether you've received it into the very fiber of your being.
And, young people, you face this in your university classes, on campus, day in and day out. You have this **thlipsis (θλῖψις)*, the pressure, to conform or be canceled out, and here's what affliction does. Affliction reveals whether or not you've merely retained the Word on the surface of life, or whether you've embraced it, received it into the very fiber of your being. Let me give you chapter and verse to prove that statement. Please turn to Matthew 13.
Matthew 13—and this struck me so forcibly in preparing for tonight. Notice the parable of the sower, and it says that those that received the word on the rocky places, stony ground, that they received the Word with joy. You know, it's interesting. They received the Word with joy. Do you know that the word translated "received" is not the word *dékhomai (δέχομαι)*, it's *lambano (λαμβάνω )*, *lambanō*. They welcomed it, but not with warm embrace, and they're exposed a little bit later, so there's this initial excitement, the surface excitement, forgiveness, eternal life. Oh, wow, this is glorious.
What happened? Well, the sun rose. It wasn't long before the sun beat down upon the little plant. It shriveled up, withered. What happened? It died, it's gone, and our Lord is going to interpret this parable, and then He says in verse—notice verse 20 and 21 in Matthew 13—"And the one on whom the seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy—*lambanō*, right? Not *dékhomai *—and yet he has no root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away." See what happens?
It's the picture of the one who receives the Word, retains the Word, but he's not to the roots of his being attached to the Word, and when the sun of tribulation, persecution arises, what does it do? It reveals clearly that there was no root, no root. There was retention, but no root, and when persecution arises because of the Word, because of his association with the Word, with Christ—but will you identify with Christ if it means your skin, your wife, your children, your life, your possessions, your work? Wait, wait a minute, wait a minute. I'll save my skin. You can have my Jesus. You can have my Jesus.
I'm deeply concerned for professing Christians whose whole Christian experience has not a single trace of self-denial, not a single trace. They can never say no to a plan, to pleasure, to anything for the sake of Christ. I fear that they are merely retaining the Word, and when the real tribulation, persecution comes because of the Word, they'll fall away. Beloved, let's not wait till it rises to see whether or not we have roots, but let us ask the Lord to show us, Lord, have I truly received the Word?
Well, they received it in much affliction, and all the affliction did was prove that they are truly, really, they have received it, and then you have this wonderful contrast. I just couldn't believe this. This was incredible. My eyes just opened up. Here's the way that this ought to—I mean, you ought to translate it literally this way: having received the word in much affliction, the Greek word, the next Greek word translated "with" is *meta (μετά) *, and really, you can translate, and it ought to be translated here this way: having received the word in much affliction along with, together with—together with—the joy of the Holy Spirit.
Now, whoever heard of such a foolish, unbefitting couple as affliction and joy? I mean, we've come across this, but it just struck me even more. You know, sometimes you see a couple coming down the street and he's like six foot seven and she's four foot eleven, and you say, how in the world did these two people get together? I mean, it just doesn't quite fit, you know, on a human perspective, in a visual way. Well, here comes affliction down the street, and the long side of her is what? Joy, joy. How do you get those two together? You just don't look like a good match. Well, you see, God delights to put things together that only God could ever think to put together. So we might, you and I might, put affliction with a word like endurance—having received the word in much affliction with endurance of the Holy Spirit. Or we might put together having received the word in much enthusiasm and joy. They fit together. But affliction and joy? How do you get those two together? Well, you see, God just likes to put together things that we human beings would never put together.
Who would ever have thought of God becoming a man, right? And choosing to breathe His first breath amidst the acrid smell of a stinking stable. Who would ever have dreamed of a thing like that? What does God put together? Deity and the smell of dung. And God joins them together. You see, His ways are not our ways—"as the heavens are high above the earth, so His thoughts are above our thoughts and His ways are above our ways." And now He wanted to bring these Thessalonians into joy. How does He do it? He doesn't do it by stepping up the anti-poverty program, giving double benefits of welfare—no, no. He lets them come to the Christian faith in the crucible of suffering.
Why? Because He knows that there's an inseparable relationship between joy and affliction. You say, I don't understand. Well, stick with me just the remaining few minutes and I hope maybe you will. You see, the Word that came to them offering salvation in the Lord, demanding absolute submission to Christ—that's the Word which, when they received it, led them into the arena of suffering and affliction. The moment they received the Word—you read about that in Acts 17—the Jews became jealous, began to persecute them and afflict them and harass them. Why? Because they received the Word about Jesus Christ and about the gospel. But that Word to which they adhered, even though it meant affliction, was also a Word that promised something.
What did it promise? "I will never leave you nor forsake you." A Word that promised, "He that has the Son has life." A Word that declared that "their sins, iniquities will be remembered no more." A Word that says, "In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you; so I go to prepare a place for you." A Word that says that there's a glorious inheritance of the saints. So for the first time, they had that in the midst of suffering, which they never had in the midst of peace.
Sure, everything was going fine. Thessaloniki was a thriving port city. No doubt, many of these people were feeding on the affluence of the city in a state of idolatry. And now they turn from their idols to serve the living and true God. And they enter into the crucible of suffering and yet joy. Why? Well, for the first time, they had something the idol could never give them. They knew what it was to say, Abba, Father. They knew what it was to say, Hallelujah, found Him whom my soul so long has craved. They knew what it was to say, my sins are gone, gone, gone—yes, my sins are gone. All of them.
No need to come before the idol day after day, week after week, hoping, yearning somehow to get a little bit of peace of conscience. Now in the midst of persecution—I mean, you make them look up and say, Father, the persecution really drives them to look up and say, Father, I thank You that through the blood of Your Son, my sins are gone forever. And they are buried in the depths of the sea. See, that's why they had joy. In the midst of affliction, the affliction came because of the Word, but the Word brought with it the very thing that raised them above affliction and gave them joy in the Holy Spirit.
Does man reject me? It's all right, because God accepts me. And that's a cause of joy. Does man take my earthly inheritance? That's all right. God has prepared for me a heavenly, glorious inheritance that produces joy. Does man frown upon me? That's all right, as long as God smiles upon me, and that produces joy. God is for me, no matter who is against me, and He will right all wrongs—sorrowful yet rejoicing.
So you see, in the midst of affliction, joy. What kind of joy? Oh, he tells us, joy of the Holy Spirit. Oh, the tremendous lesson in this, and I say it tenderly to some of us who may be sitting here tonight feeling, if I only could find the secret of joy. If only I could find the secret of joy. Beloved, here it is. Here it is, beloved. Here it is.
Joy doesn't have one atom to do with your circumstances. Let me say that again. Joy doesn't have anything, not even one atom to do with your circumstances or with your possessions or with having someone in your life or not having someone in, or anything that relates to this life—not a single thing. Joy has solely to do with your relationship to God, to Christ, to heaven, to things eternal, and to the world to come. Joy has nothing to do with what you have here and now. Happiness does. Happiness does. Happiness has everything to do with what you have here.
Now, thank God, in various instances, He gives His children not only joy but happiness as well. Happiness is based upon pleasant circumstances, being around pleasant people, living in health, living in relative prosperity, and the world can have happiness as well as sorrow, but the world can never have joy. Joy is a quality produced by a right relationship to God. That's why it says the fruit of what? The Spirit. The Spirit is joy. Nobody else can give it but God the Holy Spirit. No one else.
Therefore, no one has this gift of joy except the person indwelt by the Holy Spirit. And when he's got it, it's not depending on circumstances because it's the result of what? A right relationship to God, the world to come, spiritual realities. That's why you read in the book of Acts after they let loose Peter and the others, after beating them, in Acts 5:41, what do we read? "So they went on their way from the presence of the Sanhedrin, how? Rejoicing. Rejoicing. Rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for the name."
And this is what has got the ire of unregenerate men up to its boiling point. Whenever there's open persecution, the more they persecute the people of God, the more joyful the people of God become. And they can't get it. They can't understand it. They can't understand this. Why? Because they think if we take away things, we'll kill that fanatical joy. So they take away possessions. And guess what happens? Their joy rises a few degrees. They take away loved ones. Their joy rises a few more degrees. They take away life itself and they die doing what? Like so many of the martyrs, they die, what? Singing the praises of God.
Why? Because all men can do is release them from the prison of this body to go into the presence of God. Oh, beloved, you know, anything of the joy of the Holy Spirit, it has nothing to do with things, circumstances. That's how these people receive the Word, in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit. Oh, may God grant that as they thus receive the Word, that we too, by the grace of God, shall receive the Word.
Every time we open this book, have you received the Word? Are you receiving, welcoming the Word in a warm, hearty embrace? Or are you simply tolerating it, simply retaining it up here in the head until such a time it will be convenient to flop it off? May God grant that we shall be receivers of the Word, that it may be written of us, having received the Word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit.
And may it never be said that when tribulation and difficulties arose, they fell away. May God deliver us, each and every one of us, from fair-weather Christians. May we serve our Lord, if necessary, even when it means the sealing of our witness with our own lives, to serve Him faithfully, to serve Him consistently, and to serve Him with delight.
Let's pray.
We began to look at this together the last few weeks. Tonight, we come to verse six, and I want us to zero in on this clause: “having received the word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit”, and we'll pick up the rest next Lord's Day, Lord willing. Having received the word, he says, "'For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, having received the word,'" and that gospel coming, coming in power—he said—"'produced in these people a receiving of the Word.'" You need to see the connection.
Now, what does this little phrase, having received the Word, mean? What does it mean? There are two main words used in the New Testament that can be translated as receive or receiving or received. One of them simply means to accept something, to take something into one's possession without any indication of how it is taken. That Greek word is the Greek word *lambano (λαμβάνω )*. You might receive, for example, a ticket from a police officer when you're stopped. I doubt that you'd receive that with joy or any relish. You just simply receive it. One word in the New Testament that means simply to take something, to receive it, you accept it regardless, *lambano (λαμβάνω) *.
Another word is used which has a strong, strong overtones of receiving rather with delight. To receive with delight. It's a welcoming, appropriating reception. That's the word *dexamenoi (δεξάμενοι )*, and that's the word that is used here by Paul under inspiration—to accept an offer deliberately, readily, to accept something with open arms, to welcome it, to rejoice in it. He said you received with a welcoming, with an appropriating reception, the Word. In much affliction and with the joy of the Holy Spirit.
This is the word used when it speaks of Simeon in the Gospel of Luke, chapter two, verse 28, translated took—he took, he *dexamenoi (δεξάμενοι )*, he welcomed, he received with delight—Him, the babe, Jesus, into his arms and blessed God. You recall when Mary and Joseph brought Christ up to the temple according to Old Testament law and Mary came with her sacrifice and he, Simeon, received the babe into his arms. There was a welcoming reception and then that wonderful burst of praise to God for His so great a salvation. That's the word.
Same word is used in Hebrews 11:31, where Rahab, we're told, welcomed the spies. She received the spies. She didn't simply open her door for them. You remember, she cared for them. She hid them. She welcomed them into her home and it was an appropriating reception. Same word used in Acts, chapter three, in verse 21, where it says of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom heaven must *dechomai*—receive, welcome—until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. How had heaven received our Lord Jesus Christ? Well, He was received with joy, with delight as the King of Glory.
Well, that's the word used and it's in that connotation that Paul says here, having received, having received, having welcomed, having welcomed. You received, you welcomed with open arms. Your hearts, in fact, went out and embraced with an appropriating reception. What? Well, notice the word: having received, the Word, the Word. Now, we could spend, really, three, four weeks on just this little phrase, the Word. It's the very word used for the title of our Lord Jesus Christ in John 1:1, *Logos (Λόγος) *. "In the beginning was the Word, the Logos, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." But here, in this passage, as in many others, the term here, *Logos (Λόγος) *, or that phrase, the word, speaks particularly in context of the message of the gospel, the saving message.
Many usages, but here and elsewhere, it means the message concerning salvation, the attainment of salvation, the obtaining of salvation in the kingdom of God through the person Jesus Christ. It's a message that comes declaring man's absolute ruin by the fall. It's included in that message. It's a message which comes declaring man's redemption by none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, the one and only Mediator. It's a message that comes declaring the necessity of regeneration by the Holy Spirit. It's a message that comes with overtones demanding repentance and urging men to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's the message that Paul proclaimed wherever he went, the message of the gospel. In fact, it's the word used in 1 Corinthians 1:18 for the—some translations have it the message of the cross, but it is—the Word of the cross, the *Logos (Λόγος) * of the cross. He says, "For the Word of the cross is foolishness"—he's referring to the message of the gospel. It's foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is what? It is the power of God." It's the same word used in Colossians 1:5, where we read, "because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth"—and then he specifies—"the gospel," the message of the truth of the gospel. It's the gospel.
Now, going through the Scriptures and finding these references to the word or message of the gospel, then we must ask the question: what did that word or message contain? What is bound up in that Word, in that message? And the only way to find out is to go to the men that preached it. And when you turn to the book of Acts, for example, you turn to the epistles, you find that it was a distinct message. It was a distinct message that had specific ingredients. And you find out also that it was a final, absolute, unalterable message.
So final, so unalterable that the apostle Paul said to the Galatians in chapter one—you remember that passage—he said, even if I come back to you or you have an angel stepping out of heaven and proclaiming to you any other gospel, an *heteros (ἕτερος) * gospel, another of a different kind gospel, any other word, any other message, he says, let him be anathema, let him be accursed. And then he says, again, I say unto you, let him be accursed.
So when Paul says that these people received, they welcomed with delight—they welcomed with an appropriating reception—the word, he was speaking of nothing less than that message that comes from God with specific ingredients concerning the rights of God, the sin of man, the redemption of God exclusively in Christ, and the demands of God for repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That message committed once and for all for the salvation of sinners. This is what Paul is talking about.
And he says, these people here, there in Thessaloniki—he says, they received the Word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit. Now notice, he says, having received the Word, the *Logos*, having received the Word—not part of it, every word is inspired—not part of it, not a fraction of it, not most of it, not two-thirds of it, but you received the Word, the entirety of the message, all of it, the full counsel. They received all of it.
You know what that means? That means that they received the negative aspects of that message as well, the negative aspects of that message. And part of receiving the message of the gospel is accepting the bad news that it contains as well. That's the backdrop, the bad news, the bad news concerning man's absolute ruin by the fall. No one receives the word who doesn't welcome—even though it's painful—to welcome that terrible indictment that comes from heaven saying, "Thou art a guilty, wretched, vile rebel, a hell-deserving sinner." And until you know this, you haven't received the entirety of the message.
You see, there's no receiving the Word apart from receiving the awful overtones of man's judgment, the terrible scandal of the cross, that in the bloody form of the Son of God, you find the only hope of salvation. The terrible scandal of the cross, the terrible stumbling block, this thing that was to the Jews, that He who was God became weak, was crucified through weakness. He, though being rich, yet for your sake became poor so that you through His poverty might become rich—2 Corinthians 8:9. And yet they received the whole thing, all of it. That message concerning God's way of saving sinners, and they received it into their heads in the knowledge of it. That's involved in receiving it, to receive it into the head, but also to receive it into their hearts.
That's what also took place in the effectual belief of it, and then into their lives in the practical obedience to it, the surrender of the will, the submission of the will. That's what happened here at Thessaloniki. They received the Word—head, heart, and hands—the entirety of the person, they received the Word. Now, to receive the Word in the biblical sense means nothing less than that, beloved.
And may I draw several observations by way of application at this point before we continue, before looking at the little phrase, how they received it in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit? What is the first indication that God is making His Word come with power and the Holy Spirit into the heart of man? What is the first indication? And the first indication, beloved, by way of application is that he begins to warmly embrace the Word. That's the first indication. He begins—the sinner begins—to warmly embrace the Word.
That is bound up in the meaning of the word, *dékhomai (δέχομαι) *, to welcome with open arms, with joy, with delight, and appropriating of the word with that kind of attitude. The first indication of the effectual calling of God is the hearty embrace of the word. Let me illustrate this from a passage of scripture that joins these two together beautifully. In John 6:44 and 45. Remember that passage? We studied it together. Our Lord says, "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day." Well, how does God draw? How does He draw? How does God draw men to Himself? That drawing without which men will not come, cannot come.
Well, how will He draw? Does He draw by some kind of a magical coercion? No, He draws by a way that is mysterious to us, but it's not magical. For notice the next words, "For it is written in the prophets, or it is written in the prophets, And they shall all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me." When a man begins to hear and learn from the Father, he is not far away from coming to Christ. So how does God draw? Well, God draws by causing the word to come with power and causing sinners then to begin to welcome the word. There's that warm embrace.
One of the most blessed signs to me as an undershepherd that God is beginning a work of grace is when I see someone who has been so indifferent to the word of God, so indifferent, so laid back, so, well, who cares attitude, to see that person beginning to search the Word earnestly, earnestly, and begin to cry to God that he'd understand the scriptures. Oh, I have high hopes for that person. I don't care how long it takes God to do the work of revealing His Son. He knows what He's doing. You could tell they're hearing, learning from the Father, and when they begin to hear and learn from the Father, won't be too long before they're drawn to the Son.
And that's what Paul recognized in these beloved people there in Thessaloniki. For our gospel did not come to you in word only, he tells them, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit with full assurance, just as you know what kind of man we proved to be among you for your sake. You also became imitators of us and of the Lord. Why? Having received the Word. Having received the Word. The first indication of the effectual call is a warm embrace of the Word of God, a warm embrace of the word of God. Several examples. We have the principle stated in John 6. Let's look at several examples in the book of Acts where this very word, having received the word, is used. Acts chapter eight, turn with me very quickly. Acts 8:14. I want us to see this together. This is really important for us.
Acts 8:14. We read there, "Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had"—what? See, the same expression—"received the Word of God." Now, what does it mean, received? Does it mean they simply were exposed to the preaching of the apostles? No, for the same strong word is used here, *dékhomai (δέχομαι)*. They welcomed it with delight, with an appropriating reception. They appropriated the word of God from the heart. They welcomed it.
You can read about it beginning with verse five. If you go, if you back up in the same chapter, they welcomed it. Now, Philip, verse five. "Now, Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began preaching Christ to them. And the crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was being said by Philip." Now, go to verse eight. "So there was"—what?—"great joy in that city." There was a warm embrace. There was joy, exuberance, the reception of the word of God.
You see the Father drawing, how? Not magically, in mysterious ways that we cannot put down and trace them out. One, two, three, four. Yes, for the scripture says the ways of the Spirit are like the wind, right? There's an element of mystery, but it's not magic. It's by the means of the Word of God, the living, active Word of God applied, the power applied through the Spirit. And so as the Spirit of God worked in Samaria, people received the Word, and then these blessed fruits followed.
It's the same word used of the Bereans in Acts 17, while we're still in Acts. Acts 17: 11, we read, "Now these were more noble-minded"—Acts 17: 11, with reference to the Bereans—"now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessaloniki, for they received the word with great eagerness." They received the Word. Same thing, same expression. They welcomed it. They appropriated it to themselves.
And now the Scripture states categorically, and I want us to look at it so that there would be no confusion in anyone's mind. This is crystal clear in scripture. The Holy Spirit-inspired record, 1 Corinthians 2:14, is the text that uses the same word, the same word, *dékhomai (δέχομαι)*, where we read, "But a natural man"—the natural man, what is that man? It's the man devoid of the Spirit's operation. The Spirit's operation. Here's the Word. The natural man does not, what? dékhomai (δέχομαι). Does not accept. Does not receive with delight. Does not embrace from the heart. There's no warm embrace. The depths of the Spirit of God. He does not receive the depths of the spirit of God. There's no joyful, delightful, warm embrace of the things of the Spirit. The natural man, the man who's yet a stranger to the working of God in grace, he does not receive the Word. Oh yes, he may be exposed to the Word. He may even have the Word fall into his mental categories. In fact, he may be able to give back the plan of salvation as he heard it. He may be able to give back some of the substance of the word, but the word used here is that same word, dékhomai (δέχομαι), to welcome, to receive into head, heart, and life. And the Bible says he can't, he can't do that. He says the natural man does not accept the depths of the Spirit of God, why? They are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are what? Spiritually examined."
There must be an ability to embrace the Word this way, and this ability is nothing less than the mighty, powerful working of God the Holy Spirit Himself. And so the lesson of this text is tremendous for us. And let me pause and address the parents here in our midst. As you pray for your kids, as you pray for your little ones, what should you consider some signs that God may be beginning the work of grace in them? What should you take as a sign? I believe here's a good one: when those kids begin to show an independent thirst and hunger for the Word of God, they begin to welcome the Word of God with a warm embrace. And you find that even when they know you're not checking on them, and you look out the corner of your eye sitting in a service like this, and you see them sitting beside you or sitting in front of you or behind you, you see them with their mouths open drinking in the preaching of the Word. When you find them of their own accord reaching out after the Word of God, that's when you ought to begin to give thanks to the Lord when you pray for your kids. That's maybe God beginning a work of grace.
Not when they can parrot something. That may be nothing but the work of producing little Pharisees. Not when simply they can model it, but when it is evident that they begin to truly receive it with joy, and there's that warm embrace, and there's that insatiable desire for it. Have you received the Word? Are you receiving the Word this evening, tonight, as you hear? Is your heart reaching out? Are you welcoming it with a glad appropriation? Or are you simply being exposed to it? Are you really receiving it with joy, or are you just can't wait for the service to end? The first indication of God's effectual calling is just that.
Secondly, second application from this little phrase, the primary characteristic of a true Christian is that he has submitted to a specific body of truth. He has submitted to a specific body of truth. Having received the Word, you received it as it came is the implication. You didn't pare off any of the rough edges of the Word, of the message. You didn't tamper with it. You didn't water it down. It wasn't like a spiritual buffet—well, I'll take this, but I'll leave that out. You didn't bring it through the sieve of human understanding. You didn't press it into the mold of human prejudice. You didn't try to shape it after the disposition of carnal desires. No, no, no. Paul said, just as it came to you, you warmly embraced it. And you didn't seek to alter it one bit. That's the reception that he's talking about.
That's a genuine child of God, a man who, among other things, has been exposed to a given message and has embraced that message in total and completely embraced it, and he has sought to receive it as it is, not alter one iota of it. A Christian is a man who has submitted to and embraced a different course of authority, even the Word of truth. Notice what our Lord said in John 17, where He prayed for His own. In praying for His own, He gives us some beautiful descriptions of a Christian, and this is one of them.
In John 17:6-8, we read the following. Our Lord is speaking, I have, or praying—"I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your Word." Just as I gave Your Word to them, they kept it. They kept Your word just as I gave it to them. They received and kept it. Now, verse seven: "Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; for the words which You gave Me I have given to them, The words, the specific words—not just thoughts—but I've given unto them the very words that You have given Me, and what? What's the next phrase? "And they received them." Not some of them, not portions, not bits and pieces, but all of them. That's the Lord's description of a Christian, of a disciple. He has received the words of God. He's embraced the words of God. He seeks by the grace of God to keep the words of God. Fully, completely, all of it.
You don't get to pick and choose. They don't judge those words. They submit to those words. They align their lives with those words. They regulate their lives by the word of God, and under the word of God. They don't tamper with the word. They don't tamper with the message to bring it in line with their thoughts, but they seek to bring their thoughts in line with the message. They don't seek to bring the word to be subject to their own judgments, but they allow their judgments to be subject to the word. They're constantly reforming, aligning with the word, conforming to the image of Christ.
Let me ask you something this evening, dear child of God. Are you convinced—are you convinced—that if you throw off the absolute authority of the Scripture, you have no grounds from now on to even claim that you're a Christian? And I really, I feel myself compelled to speak a word of warning to us as God's people. There's even in our evangelical circles, emerging not a great big red ax over the doctrine of the absolute authority and the inspiration of the Scripture, but you know what there is? There's a little dim gray question mark way up in the right-hand corner, as it were.
Do you see the difference? If somebody came to you this evening after the service with the Bible and had a great big thick red marker and put a big red ax over the whole thing and says, now that's what you ought to do with your Bible, just cancel it out. It is not trustworthy. Discard of it, just get rid of it. It's not trustworthy. I mean, your eyes would be up in horror, wouldn't you? But now if he held it out and said, the whole thing is the Word of God, but a little fuzzy gray question mark over a word here, a word there, and this and that and the other, right-hand corner, you may be tempted to kind of overlook that as pretty harmless, and I feel that's what's happening even in evangelical circles. Little fuzzy question mark.
Oh, yes, that the Bible, you know, seems to teach fiat creation, that God actually broke in and created life, created everything out of the womb of nothing, but there's a question mark. There's a question mark. Maybe the Genesis account of creation really isn't that literal. Maybe it's not that reliable. Maybe evolution is real. You know, God is behind it, but maybe it is, maybe not. The Bible seems to teach this, but, beloved, listen, a Christian is someone who has received the Word as it has come to him in its totality with all of its difficulties as well as with its promises of joy and blessing, and I don't want to belabor the point, but I do want to state it sufficiently to make the point.
Would to God, would to God, that it could be said of us every time we opened the Word, we opened the Scriptures, every time the Scriptures are proclaimed and read. Now, what Paul could say of these people as he does in 2:13—we'll enlarge on it, Lord willing, more when we come to that. Notice what he says. Same letter, 1 Thessalonians 2:13. Would to God, this could be said of us every time we opened the word of God. 1 Thessalonians 2:13: "And for this reason, we also give thanks, we also thank God without ceasing that when you received the Word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the Word of God, which also is at work in you who believe."
What a wonderful thing for a servant of God to be able to say that about a congregation. And he says, this is what makes me thankful to God above all else, that when we came saying, thus says the Lord—now remember, Paul simply opened up the Scriptures, the Old Testament Scriptures. Remember the setting of this in Acts 17, the birthing of the church? He went into the synagogue, he reasoned out of what? Out of his own, you know, imagination? No, no, out of the Scriptures. Verse by verse, phrase by phrase. But he said, when you people saw me, going through the scrolls, and proving from the scrolls that Jesus was the Messiah, you saw beyond the scroll and the parchment, you saw beyond the messenger, you saw the God who made you. Receive the word with joy.
He says, thank God you received it as the Word of God. And I trust, beloved, when you sit here Sunday by Sunday and see beyond the black book and beyond the messenger, and you receive it as the Word of God. Do you? If you do, do you know what's gonna happen? You're gonna be an imitator, an example. And from you, the Word will sound forth. And all these other effects will follow if you have the cause, having received the Word of God.
Two principles, then, I see in that phrase. The first indication of the effectual call is a warm embrace of the word. Secondly, a Christian is one who received a definite body of revealed truth, all of it. And the third thing, I'll only touch on it briefly, because I do wanna get to the little phrase "in much affliction with joy of the Holy Spirit."
Thirdly, the only hope for such a reception of the Word in ourselves and others is what? The only hope to have that kind of reception of the Word, that warm embrace, in us and in others, is the mighty, the mighty work of the Holy Spirit. There's no other way around it. The mighty work of the Holy Spirit. Paul says, our gospel came in power, you received it, and the two are inseparable. If it doesn't come with power, it will not be received like this. Or it may be received in the first sense of that other word, like *lambano (λαμβάνω )* I received a ticket begrudgingly. I'll admit that's true, but it won't be received with the warm embrace and appropriation.
Why? Because the Bible tells us, "But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him." Well, let's press on with the remaining time that we have.
What circumstances attended that reception of the Word? What circumstances attended the reception of that Word? Paul touches on them here, there are two. He said, having received the Word, how? This is the first one, in much affliction. That's the first set of circumstances. And the second one, with the joy of the Holy Spirit.
Someone said, and I quote, it's a good reminder, "an age out of fellowship with martyrs is neither noble nor blessed, however prosperous." End of quote. It's hard for us to understand this little phrase, having received the Word, in much affliction. Much affliction. It's hard because most of us, for the most part, do not know experimentally what much affliction means. This is the word used throughout the length of scripture, translated in some places, tribulation. It's the Greek word that we're familiar with, *thlipsis (θλῖψις) *. *Thlipsis (θλῖψις) *. It means to crush, to press, to compress, to squeeze. Which is from the Greek word, *thlao (θλάω) *, to break, trouble, tribulation, affliction. Often a metonym for evils, by which one is pressed, calamity.
Paul, and it's strange to say it, but Paul assured all of his converts that just as surely as they had a common lot in their sinfulness, common lot in their Savior, in their hope of heaven, he always assured them that they're going to have a common lot in their affliction, in their suffering. Notice what he said, new converts there, Acts 14. From a human perspective, what a strange thing to tell a bunch of new converts. If you want to get them discouraged and send them back to the leeks and onions and garlic of Egypt, just tell them what Paul told them. What a way to confirm the disciples.
But look at this, Acts 14: 22. Well, let's back up to verse 21. In verse 21, Luke, under inspiration, said this, that they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, places where they preached the Word of God before. Now, verse 22: "strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, 'Through many afflictions we must enter the kingdom of God.'"
I thought you'd go to new converts and tell them how wonderful it is that everything, you come to Jesus, and everything's gonna be blessed and happy and joyful and peaceful, and it's gonna be, I mean, a smooth ride, a smooth sailing, a walk in the garden. You receive Christ, and you're just gonna be like sitting by the French Riviera, putting your feet up, sipping iced tea. No, no, they went back and strengthened the souls of the disciples by telling them the truth, saying, roll up your sleeves. Through much affliction, you will enter the kingdom of God.
He told the Philippians, in Philippians 1:21, it has been granted, it was a gift of grace to you, not only to believe in His name, but to suffer also for His namesake. He told these Thessalonians in this first letter, chapter three, verses three and four, I'll only read them because we hope to come to them eventually and expound them, "so that no one would be shaken by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we have been destined for this. For indeed, when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction, just as it happened, and as you know."
How could Paul be so sure that everywhere he went, he told these people, sooner or later, face it, you're gonna have a tough time? You're gonna face it. On what basis could he make such an assertion? And I believe, personally, he had conveyed to him the words that our Lord said to His disciples shortly before He went back to heaven.
Remember what those words were in John 16:33: "In the world, you have, *thlipsis (θλῖψις)*, you have tribulation, *thlipsis (θλῖψις)*, afflictions, but take courage; I have overcome the world." And if our Lord Jesus says to His own, "you have tribulation," then Paul had no qualms that wherever he went, saying, listen, sooner or later, if you're not in the crucible now, you will be in it, you will— and remember the word, **thlipsis (θλῖψις)* tribulation or affliction comes from a word which means to put pressure upon, to squeeze, to press. That's what affliction is. It's experiencing the vice-like jaws of pressure.
The pressure may sometimes come through actual physical abuse. That's what happened to those early converts. You remember Paul had been, hardly had been long enough to establish residence when affliction started. They grabbed the fellow who was taking care of him, being his host, they wanted to abuse him, and he had to give them some sort of a surety, sort of a payment to get them off his back, and Paul had to leave town quickly. The gospel was planted in the midst of affliction, persecution. These people knew experimentally that through much tribulation, they had to enter the kingdom of God, and it would seem according to the words of our Lord that just as all believers have a common lot in poverty of spirit, in meekness, in mourning, in hungering, in thirsting, He says in the last beatitude in Matthew 5: "'Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.'"
Now, there are times when perhaps that pressure does not come so much with physical abuse, but it comes, how? It comes through the pressure of what? Being cut off, ostracized, canceled out, pressured out of the circle of friendship, and it's a terrible commentary in Human Depravity how people can be so nice and yet make it obvious that they're so called to us. That's affliction, that's real affliction, that's real suffering.
In fact, I think the suffering of rejection is perhaps the deepest form of suffering there is, is that the inner suffering and affliction that comes with it, why? Because you see, the Christian exposes the world, the worldling, because of his culture pattern, because of the common grace of God restraining in society, he may not feel free to pick up a stone, his culture, his society said, well, you must, you know, smile, but in his heart, you sense the pulse of his heart as well as see his mocking, empty smile, his heart is a heart that says, if I could, I would pick up a stone.
Scripture says all Christians will have a part in that one way or another, the affliction, the tribulation of rejection, openly, overtly, or covertly, it matters not, and perhaps this is why this church was so influential, how the word sounded forth. For you see, when people are recruited in time of war, they don't join the army to see the world through, you know, a vacation or a portal, the 19-year-old who signs up, who knows, who knows in six months' time where he's going to be, and you may not get so many volunteering, but those that do, they know what they're in for, and they make better soldiers.
And in the history of the church, one of the great principles that unfolds is this, that when the church of Jesus Christ has been at war, and the lines have been clearly drawn, and the forces of hell and darkness have been arrayed against the people of God, and the persecution and affliction break up above ground, you don't have as many, quote, volunteers. Those that know that they're in for blood, possibly for death, they make far better soldiers. And, beloved, it may be true—many of us, where we are, are going to be called upon to prove the reality of our profession, our faith, our reception of the Word, by seeing if we still welcome it in much affliction, however way that comes. Because you know what affliction does? Affliction reveals whether or not you're merely retaining the word on the surface of the life, or whether you've received it into the very fiber of your being.
And, young people, you face this in your university classes, on campus, day in and day out. You have this **thlipsis (θλῖψις)*, the pressure, to conform or be canceled out, and here's what affliction does. Affliction reveals whether or not you've merely retained the Word on the surface of life, or whether you've embraced it, received it into the very fiber of your being. Let me give you chapter and verse to prove that statement. Please turn to Matthew 13.
Matthew 13—and this struck me so forcibly in preparing for tonight. Notice the parable of the sower, and it says that those that received the word on the rocky places, stony ground, that they received the Word with joy. You know, it's interesting. They received the Word with joy. Do you know that the word translated "received" is not the word *dékhomai (δέχομαι)*, it's *lambano (λαμβάνω )*, *lambanō*. They welcomed it, but not with warm embrace, and they're exposed a little bit later, so there's this initial excitement, the surface excitement, forgiveness, eternal life. Oh, wow, this is glorious.
What happened? Well, the sun rose. It wasn't long before the sun beat down upon the little plant. It shriveled up, withered. What happened? It died, it's gone, and our Lord is going to interpret this parable, and then He says in verse—notice verse 20 and 21 in Matthew 13—"And the one on whom the seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy—*lambanō*, right? Not *dékhomai *—and yet he has no root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away." See what happens?
It's the picture of the one who receives the Word, retains the Word, but he's not to the roots of his being attached to the Word, and when the sun of tribulation, persecution arises, what does it do? It reveals clearly that there was no root, no root. There was retention, but no root, and when persecution arises because of the Word, because of his association with the Word, with Christ—but will you identify with Christ if it means your skin, your wife, your children, your life, your possessions, your work? Wait, wait a minute, wait a minute. I'll save my skin. You can have my Jesus. You can have my Jesus.
I'm deeply concerned for professing Christians whose whole Christian experience has not a single trace of self-denial, not a single trace. They can never say no to a plan, to pleasure, to anything for the sake of Christ. I fear that they are merely retaining the Word, and when the real tribulation, persecution comes because of the Word, they'll fall away. Beloved, let's not wait till it rises to see whether or not we have roots, but let us ask the Lord to show us, Lord, have I truly received the Word?
Well, they received it in much affliction, and all the affliction did was prove that they are truly, really, they have received it, and then you have this wonderful contrast. I just couldn't believe this. This was incredible. My eyes just opened up. Here's the way that this ought to—I mean, you ought to translate it literally this way: having received the word in much affliction, the Greek word, the next Greek word translated "with" is *meta (μετά) *, and really, you can translate, and it ought to be translated here this way: having received the word in much affliction along with, together with—together with—the joy of the Holy Spirit.
Now, whoever heard of such a foolish, unbefitting couple as affliction and joy? I mean, we've come across this, but it just struck me even more. You know, sometimes you see a couple coming down the street and he's like six foot seven and she's four foot eleven, and you say, how in the world did these two people get together? I mean, it just doesn't quite fit, you know, on a human perspective, in a visual way. Well, here comes affliction down the street, and the long side of her is what? Joy, joy. How do you get those two together? You just don't look like a good match. Well, you see, God delights to put things together that only God could ever think to put together. So we might, you and I might, put affliction with a word like endurance—having received the word in much affliction with endurance of the Holy Spirit. Or we might put together having received the word in much enthusiasm and joy. They fit together. But affliction and joy? How do you get those two together? Well, you see, God just likes to put together things that we human beings would never put together.
Who would ever have thought of God becoming a man, right? And choosing to breathe His first breath amidst the acrid smell of a stinking stable. Who would ever have dreamed of a thing like that? What does God put together? Deity and the smell of dung. And God joins them together. You see, His ways are not our ways—"as the heavens are high above the earth, so His thoughts are above our thoughts and His ways are above our ways." And now He wanted to bring these Thessalonians into joy. How does He do it? He doesn't do it by stepping up the anti-poverty program, giving double benefits of welfare—no, no. He lets them come to the Christian faith in the crucible of suffering.
Why? Because He knows that there's an inseparable relationship between joy and affliction. You say, I don't understand. Well, stick with me just the remaining few minutes and I hope maybe you will. You see, the Word that came to them offering salvation in the Lord, demanding absolute submission to Christ—that's the Word which, when they received it, led them into the arena of suffering and affliction. The moment they received the Word—you read about that in Acts 17—the Jews became jealous, began to persecute them and afflict them and harass them. Why? Because they received the Word about Jesus Christ and about the gospel. But that Word to which they adhered, even though it meant affliction, was also a Word that promised something.
What did it promise? "I will never leave you nor forsake you." A Word that promised, "He that has the Son has life." A Word that declared that "their sins, iniquities will be remembered no more." A Word that says, "In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you; so I go to prepare a place for you." A Word that says that there's a glorious inheritance of the saints. So for the first time, they had that in the midst of suffering, which they never had in the midst of peace.
Sure, everything was going fine. Thessaloniki was a thriving port city. No doubt, many of these people were feeding on the affluence of the city in a state of idolatry. And now they turn from their idols to serve the living and true God. And they enter into the crucible of suffering and yet joy. Why? Well, for the first time, they had something the idol could never give them. They knew what it was to say, Abba, Father. They knew what it was to say, Hallelujah, found Him whom my soul so long has craved. They knew what it was to say, my sins are gone, gone, gone—yes, my sins are gone. All of them.
No need to come before the idol day after day, week after week, hoping, yearning somehow to get a little bit of peace of conscience. Now in the midst of persecution—I mean, you make them look up and say, Father, the persecution really drives them to look up and say, Father, I thank You that through the blood of Your Son, my sins are gone forever. And they are buried in the depths of the sea. See, that's why they had joy. In the midst of affliction, the affliction came because of the Word, but the Word brought with it the very thing that raised them above affliction and gave them joy in the Holy Spirit.
Does man reject me? It's all right, because God accepts me. And that's a cause of joy. Does man take my earthly inheritance? That's all right. God has prepared for me a heavenly, glorious inheritance that produces joy. Does man frown upon me? That's all right, as long as God smiles upon me, and that produces joy. God is for me, no matter who is against me, and He will right all wrongs—sorrowful yet rejoicing.
So you see, in the midst of affliction, joy. What kind of joy? Oh, he tells us, joy of the Holy Spirit. Oh, the tremendous lesson in this, and I say it tenderly to some of us who may be sitting here tonight feeling, if I only could find the secret of joy. If only I could find the secret of joy. Beloved, here it is. Here it is, beloved. Here it is.
Joy doesn't have one atom to do with your circumstances. Let me say that again. Joy doesn't have anything, not even one atom to do with your circumstances or with your possessions or with having someone in your life or not having someone in, or anything that relates to this life—not a single thing. Joy has solely to do with your relationship to God, to Christ, to heaven, to things eternal, and to the world to come. Joy has nothing to do with what you have here and now. Happiness does. Happiness does. Happiness has everything to do with what you have here.
Now, thank God, in various instances, He gives His children not only joy but happiness as well. Happiness is based upon pleasant circumstances, being around pleasant people, living in health, living in relative prosperity, and the world can have happiness as well as sorrow, but the world can never have joy. Joy is a quality produced by a right relationship to God. That's why it says the fruit of what? The Spirit. The Spirit is joy. Nobody else can give it but God the Holy Spirit. No one else.
Therefore, no one has this gift of joy except the person indwelt by the Holy Spirit. And when he's got it, it's not depending on circumstances because it's the result of what? A right relationship to God, the world to come, spiritual realities. That's why you read in the book of Acts after they let loose Peter and the others, after beating them, in Acts 5:41, what do we read? "So they went on their way from the presence of the Sanhedrin, how? Rejoicing. Rejoicing. Rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for the name."
And this is what has got the ire of unregenerate men up to its boiling point. Whenever there's open persecution, the more they persecute the people of God, the more joyful the people of God become. And they can't get it. They can't understand it. They can't understand this. Why? Because they think if we take away things, we'll kill that fanatical joy. So they take away possessions. And guess what happens? Their joy rises a few degrees. They take away loved ones. Their joy rises a few more degrees. They take away life itself and they die doing what? Like so many of the martyrs, they die, what? Singing the praises of God.
Why? Because all men can do is release them from the prison of this body to go into the presence of God. Oh, beloved, you know, anything of the joy of the Holy Spirit, it has nothing to do with things, circumstances. That's how these people receive the Word, in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit. Oh, may God grant that as they thus receive the Word, that we too, by the grace of God, shall receive the Word.
Every time we open this book, have you received the Word? Are you receiving, welcoming the Word in a warm, hearty embrace? Or are you simply tolerating it, simply retaining it up here in the head until such a time it will be convenient to flop it off? May God grant that we shall be receivers of the Word, that it may be written of us, having received the Word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit.
And may it never be said that when tribulation and difficulties arose, they fell away. May God deliver us, each and every one of us, from fair-weather Christians. May we serve our Lord, if necessary, even when it means the sealing of our witness with our own lives, to serve Him faithfully, to serve Him consistently, and to serve Him with delight.
Let's pray.
Recent
Archive
2026
January
February
March
2025
January
February
March
May
June
July
August
September
October
2024
November
Categories
no categories