Drew Boswell

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2 Thessalonians Sermon Series: Return of the King “Hold What Ya Got” 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17

2 Thessalonians Sermon Series:

Return of the King

“Hold What Ya Got”

2 Thessalonians 2:13-17

Introduction

Growing up in the church can be wonderful but it can also be very difficult. On one hand you have the blessings that come from a Christian family (provision, love, order, godly instruction, an extended church family), but the draw-back is that you are not allowed and certainly not encouraged to question the doctrines and traditions that you have grown up under.

So, predictably, when a young person, who has grown up in the Christian home begins to question and ask, “How do we know this to be true?” the church squirms and looks down and believes that all is lost. This generation is lost to the world because they don’t want to do things the same way we did things – but all they want is an answer to a very reasonable question.

The danger of passing the baton from one generation to the next is that man made tradition (the method) is held on the same level as God’s Word (the message).  So, when the younger ask the older, “why do we do it this way?” and “Can we do it another way?” there erupts arguments. Today Paul is telling a young church to hold to the traditions they have received – but it’s not the traditions that you may be thinking of.

Prayer

It is Going to Be Ok (vv. 13-14)

13 But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. 14 To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This new church had endured horrible persecution. Many in the church services would have been nursing the wounds of that persecution. Then, they had received the false teaching that Christ had arrived, and they had the emotional relief that all their suffering was over, they would be with Christ in moments.

Then Paul writes them back, saying no, Christ will return, but there are things that have to happen first. So back down the emotional roller coaster they go again – figuring out how do they stay faithful under the weight of persecution and hardship.[1] It is not enough just to correct people’s doctrine – Paul also understands that he needs to address their spirit, they need to be encouraged.

Timothy Dwight once said, “The Bible is a window in this prison-world, through which we may look into eternity.” Paul is wanting the church to look through the window of his words to remind them of the eternal glory of being with Christ.

So Paul goes back in eternity, and will end in the future kingdom. “God had planned their place, and their final glory is Jesus Christ.”[2] Firstfruits is an agricultural term of where a crop will come in, and there will be several more yields in the season. Paul is thankful for the believers at Thessalonica because they are “firstfruits” of many more that are to come.

When discussing the salvation of those at Thessalonica, he points back to them being chosen way before the establishment of the church, and then to their being able to experience the glory of the Lord in eternity. His view of salvation is an eternal, high-level perspective. It is much bigger than the difficulties and hardships that they are currently enduring. Their lives and the work they are to be doing has been established “before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4).

Paul says, “God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. . . he called you through our gospel” – The process of salvation seems to follow this order; God chooses a person in eternity past to be saved[3], they are called through the sharing of the gospel, the Holy Spirit sanctifies them, and they then believe the truth.

God chooses you, then through “sanctification by the Spirit,” – sanctification is act of making something or someone clean or holy.[4] We see a picture of this when Moses encounters the Spirit of God in the burning bush. Exodus 3:5 “Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”

God wants Moses to come into His presence “For God so loved the world”, so he takes the first step (the burning bush). Moses chooses to investigate “this strange sight” then God tells him how to be clean in his presence (take off your shoes). Moses then removes his shoes – there is a relationship where man enters into the presence of God – God draws and man follows the direction.

Sanctification occurs in the beginning of salvation, where the blindness of sin is removed enough so that a person may respond to the gospel – but it is also a life-long process of removing sin and becoming like Christ in holiness. But this same process of man cooperating with the Spirit in dealing with sin – it remains a choice their entire lives.

There are two sides in the matter of salvation. The initiative and the power are God’s; the necessary response is man’s. In these verses there is a movement of God first, then we respond to that calling and the movement of the Holy Spirit. And, as first-fruits, there is more to come. Their work in the church will lead to others coming to saving faith.

Also, before we move on from these verses, we do see that all three of the Trinity are involved in the salvation of people. All three are involved in the work of salvation.[5] Gould says, “It is clear that our salvation is rooted in love, planned in eternity, initiated in time, and consummated in glory. Essentially, salvation is all of grace since it is originated in God’s loving choice, wrought through the power of God’s Spirit, bestowed by answering God’s call, and perfected in the glory of God’s Son.”[6]

All that is needed for salvation, God has provided (with all that he is).

 Hold What You Got (v. 15)

15 So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.

When I was a kid I would go and help my grandfather, who learned to be a carpenter after he retired. He would hold one end of the board, and I would hold the other and place it on the desired mark. He would check it for level, and they he would always say, “hold what you got” – in other word this is exactly where I want the board to be, just hold it still.

(v. 15) Paul says, “stand firm and hold to” – “to have a masterful grip on a thing” the same word for take hold is used in Mark 1:31[7] where Jesus heals Simon’s mother-in-law, “And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them.” We are to hold on masterfully to the traditions.

2 Timothy 2:15 “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” You take God’s word and hold it up where it needs to be – “hold what you got.”

The word for traditions (meaning to pass on something from one person to another) can be used in a bad sense such as Col. 2:8 “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.”

And the word tradition can be used in a good sense such as, 1 Cor. 11:23 referencing the Lord’s Supper “For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread,” and here in our passage today.

When we say tradition, it is not a reference to a way of doing things (like contemporary or traditional music, or order of worship). This is not what is being passed along. Paul is referring to his, Silas and Timothy’s teachings they have received while they were there.

So there are things that tend to get passed on from one group to another group, one generation to the next generation, and we must discern if it is empty human tradition, or the teachings of Scripture. “Sound doctrine is vital. The Thessalonians are to disregard the voices of theorist and fanatics, and keep “the word.’”[8]

For them, they had Paul’s spoken word as he stayed with them, and then later wrote them with letters. Robertson says, “The worth of the tradition lies not in the form but in the source and the quality of the content.” Consider the source, where is this tradition (body of teaching) coming from?

Jesus even said several times, “You have heard it said (meaning other teachers), but I say to you. (Matthew 5-7).” Many of the religious teachers in Jesus’ day had not interpreted the Scriptures correctly.

He criticized the Pharisees for slavishly following their traditions (their interpretations and additions) and making them more authoritative than the Scripture (Matt. 15:2; Mark 7:3).[9] Our ultimate source of tradition is the Bible, it is our ultimate source of authority.manuscripts,

How do we know that what has been passed on to us today, has not been corrupted with time? Like the children’s game of telephone.

There are several ways to establish the reliability of the Bible. The first is manuscript evidence.[10] So a manuscript is a copy of a section of the Bible. “There are now more than 5,300 known Greek manuscripts of the New Testament. Add over 10,000 Latin Vulgate and at least 9,300 other early versions and we have more than 24,000 manuscript copies of portions of the New Testament in existence.”[11] These manuscripts stretch out over many years and yet remain incredibly the same.

The differences that are found among these thousands of manuscripts are changes to the spelling of words (which would count as a variant), and repeats of words as they were being copied (and and, the the), and there are no variances that would change any doctrinal concepts. Today you can go to the British Museum and see the Codex Alexandrinus that was written in AD 400, and it contains almost the entire Bible.

There is also many archeological examples of cities or personalities mentioned in the biblical text, and then those cities being discovered, or the names of the person being mentioned in texts found on the site of the archeological discovery. In other words we see again and again this field of study proving the Bible to be accurate. Archaeologist Nelson Glueck asserts, “It may be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a biblical reference.”[12]

Also, in 1947 a Bedouin shepherd boy was out looking for a lost goat, threw a rock into a cave on the west side of the Dead Sea. He heard the sound of shattered pottery and went in to investigate, where he discovered ancient copies of various books. They were leather scrolls, rolled up, placed in linen coverings, and sealed in clay pots where they had sat for 1,900 years (AD 68).

There were several other caves discovered and many other copies of Old Testament books – one example is that it placed a manuscript of Isaiah 1,000 years earlier than before; and it was incredibly accurate to the earlier version. These Dead Sea Scrolls push the time line of the dates of manuscripts even earlier than before.

We Have a Job to Do (v. 16)

16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, 17 comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.

Paul closes this section with a prayer. Everything relating to salvation and the church ultimately comes down to God’s power working within it. Through God’s grace we know that we have an eternal home, and in that have a “good hope.” But we are still here in this world, having to face the reality of a sinful fallen world – and in that we have a work to do, a word to share.

Paul is praying that God will comfort the church and to settle them down to focus on the important work they are to be doing – sharing the gospel.

Esther 4 “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law—to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live. But as for me, I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.” 12 And they told Mordecai what Esther had said. 13 Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

________________________

[1] “The artificial and strenuous excitement of the hope of Christ’s immediate return, and their disappointment at his delay, had left their minds fatigued. The irritation in their midst caused by a few incorrigible busybodies and confirmed loafers had left their nerves frayed. They needed uplift, so Paul takes them up to a high place where they can have a conspectus of their own state, the religion in which they believe, and God’s purpose for them in the present and in the future.” George Arthur Buttrick, The Interpreter’s Bible, Volume 11 (Nashville, Tennessee; Abingdon Press, 1955) 331.

[2] Buttrick, 331.

[3] See also 1 Thessalonians 1:4 – Chosen by God.

[4] David Noel Freedman, Editor-in-Chief, Eerdman’s Dictionary of the Bible (Grand Rapids, Michigan; William B. Eerdman Publishing Company, 2000) 1166.

[5] J. Glenn Gould, Beacon Bible Commentary, Volume 9 (Kansas City, Missouri; Beacon Hill Press, 1965) 524.

[6] Gould, 524.

[7] Archibald Thomas Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, Volume 4 (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman Press, 1931) 54.

[8] Gould, 525.

[9] Ronald F. Youngblood, General Editor, Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, Tennessee; Nelson Publishing, 1995) 1272.

[10] Suggested reading on this topic: Norman L. Geiser and William E. Nix, From God to us, How We Got Our Bible (Chicago, Illinois; Moody Press, 1974)139 ff.

[11] Josh McDowell, Compiled by Bill Wilson, The Best of Josh McDowell, A Ready Defense (San Bernardino, California; Here’s Life Publishers, 1993) 43.

[12] Josh McDowell, Evidence that Demands a Verdict (Nashville, Tennessee; Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1999) 89.

1 Thessalonians Sermon Series Standing Firm: Foundational Doctrine For New Believers “Standing Firm in Our Salvation” 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

1 Thessalonians Sermon Series

Standing Firm: Foundational Doctrine For New Believers

Standing Firm in Our Salvation

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Introduction

When Paul, Silvanus (another name for Silas), and Timothy enter into Thessalonica on their second missionary journey it would have been the first time that this city would have heard about Jesus and the Gospel. Acts 17 records the amazing results of their ministry of less than a month, Acts 17:4-5 “And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. 5 But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd.”

“In those few short weeks, a small group of Thessalonians came to know Jesus Christ as Savior. Persecution broke out almost immediately, forcing Paul and his companions to leave after ministering for three Sabbath days.”[1] So later he sends this young church a letter to encourage them in their new faith.

They didn’t have the New Testament, they were suffering under persecution, some had even died as a result – all they had were what Paul, Silas, and Timothy taught them over those few short weeks. Paul is concerned that this group of new believers would be discouraged and go back to what they knew before. So, he writes them a letter.

The Gospel is Powerful To Change Us (vv. 1-6)

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace. 2 We give thanks to God always for all of you[2], constantly mentioning you in our prayers, 3 remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. 6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit,

 (v. 2) “We give thanks to God always for all of you,” – Paul is thankful for the church in Thessalonica because of (v. 3) “work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”[3] This triad of faith, love, and hope are a “shorthand summary of the essentials of Christianity: They are linked to something toilsome and hard – faith as the assurance that God has acted in Christ to save his people, love as the present expression and experience of the restored relationship between God and his people, and hope as the confidence that “he who began a good work . . .will carry it on to completion” (Phil. 1:6), and that the future, therefore, holds not “wrath but . . . salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”[4]

Paul is thankful for how God has worked in the Thessalonian church, and he is praying for them because of their:

work of faith – Paul is clear that our salvation does not come from work, we cannot earn our salvation. But, when that is clearly understood Paul shows again and again that our salvation should produce a work – We work and serve because of our faith (Eph. 2:8-10; James 2:14). Hobbs says, “The word rendered “work” connotes the general idea of work or business, daily tasks or employment. Whatever they did, it was a work characterized by faith. It was the activity which faith inspired.”[5]

 labor of love – labor means “toilsome, wearisome work. It is laborious toil done for love’s sake.”[6] Paul uses the word agape here for love, it is a love that characterizes God’s nature (1 John 4:8). We do the hard things because we love God, and other human beings. In other places, Paul tells us that even though we may toil and labor if there is no love behind it, it is worthless.

 steadfastness of hope – William Barclay says: “It is the spirit which can bear things, not simply with resignation, but with blazing hope.”[7] The steadfastness connotes an athlete or soldier who could endure his opponent’s attack, yet possess reserve strength with which countercharge to victory.[8]

(v. 4) “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you” – The emphasis is one of knowledge of their certainty of salvation, not on the reasons for their being chosen. These missionaries see in those that they shared the gospel with, a reaction to that message – they know that they are saved (or chosen by God unto salvation) because of what they are doing. “There is evidence of their genuine faith and fervent ministry for Christ. They are known by their fruits.”[9]

(v. 5) “because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.” There were times when Paul was told not to preach the gospel (Acts 16:6 f.), “Sometimes he had spoken fearfully and haltingly (1 Cor. 2:3). He had undoubtedly preached to people and felt it was hopeless, but here, with the Thessalonians, it was different.”[10]

The gospel came to them in power, this is where we get the word dynamite from – the gospel were not just words, the gospel was explosive, “it demolished the false idols” and false gods.

This power was linked with the Holy Spirit – the Spirit and power of the gospel go together. This was promised by Jesus in Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”[11] When Paul spoke, God spoke through him. When you speak the gospel – there is power there because God is speaking thorough you.

How does Paul know they are saved? How does anyone know if someone else is saved? Paul says their response to the gospel “came in power, it was not simply an emotional experience nor had they been swept off their feet by Paul’s oratory. This was unmistakably the power of the Holy Spirit at work. It all deals with the way the Word was received. It is one thing to preach the Word, it is another thing to receive the Word.[12]

They received the Word 1) and became followers of Paul, 2) they received the Word in spite of persecution 3) they received it with joy of the Holy Spirit.

Even though Paul, Silas, and Timothy were not there very long, there were those who would try to discredit them. These people would come behind them and try to get these new believers to doubt their decision to “turn to God” from idols.[13]

It is as if Paul was saying, “Do not be deceived by the enemies of the faith who are trying, by means of an attack on our integrity, to undermine your faith and your assurance of salvation. Our behavior among you was proof of our integrity and of the reliability of our message. . .”[14] Paul, Silas, and Timothy were focused on this new church receiving the gospel and teaching them foundational doctrines, not on their own welfare.

How is it that people know that we are genuine believers who only want others best interest? It’s not enough just to present the gospel, how the presenter shares it is also incredibly important. These missionaries had integrity and were a worthy example to follow. They were genuine in their faith and in their intention to see people saved for Christ. They practiced what they preached (genuine), and their concern was truly for others receiving the gospel (compassionate), “to be among you for your sake.”

(v. 6) “for you received the word in much affliction” – The word “affliction” outside of the Bible usually means pressure, and that of a severe kind. The word was used of pressing grapes in the winepress until they burst, and so metaphorically means very great trouble. Paul, Silas, and Timothy had been run out of town for their preaching, and now this young church was also being “afflicted.”[15]

“The city was the home of two of the recognized mystery religions that were to be found everywhere throughout the Hellenistic, or eastern, half of the Roman Empire. These were the religion of Dionysus the dying and rising god, and Orpheus . . . Both of them were fertility cults . . . Further, at that time emperor worship was becoming actively practiced. . .”[16]

“The refusal of new Christian converts to participate in “normal” social and cultic activities and the exclusivity of their claim to worship the only “living and true God (1:9) would have left non-Christian friends feeling offended, resentful, or betrayed; similarly, family members would have viewed a refusal to maintain ancestral traditions as evidence of an appalling lack of concern for family responsibilities.

Moreover, since civic peace, agricultural success, and freedom from natural catastrophe were thought to lie in the hands of the traditional gods, it was considered extremely dangerous to ignore or offend them.”[17]

Martin Luther once said, “If Christ wore a crown of thorns, why should His followers expect only a crown of roses?”

The Gospel is Powerful to Change Others (vv. 7-10)

7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. 9 For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

The Thessalonians not only had the Word come to them, they not only had received the Word of God, but their salvation was manifested in their life and testimony. Their trust in Christ resulted in a transformed life that even other believers could follow their example. The result of the faithfulness of these Christians was that they became an example to other believers.

If we are to win the world for Christ, it won’t be with words only – “the evidence must come from our lives. The church must be ablaze with the divine nature, and the living Christ must spring into attractive vitality in the lives of its members. In them the vision must be verified, and Word made flesh. “Christ who lives in me.”” (Gal. 2:20)[18]

(v. 7) The Thessalonian church were imitators of Paul, Silas, and Timothy, and they “became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia”

“the word of the Lord sounded forth[19] from you” – “Sounded” means “to sound as a trumpet, to thunder, to reverberate like and echo.”[20] Even with all the persecution, and attacks, and inexperience, this church has found a way to transmit the gospel like a radio station to those all around them.

Paul didn’t have to tell others about what God was doing Thessalonica, “your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.” “The city was on a major trade route, the people passing through Thessalonica came into contact with the aggressive evangelism and testimony of these Christians who lived there.”[21]

(v. 9) “how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God” – The word “turned” here is given in the aorist tense, meaning a definitive decision made once. It was not a turning process, not “turning to” God – In a single, deliberate choice, they turned to God from idols. “There was a complete turn-about in the direction of their lives.”[22] That turning to God resulted in their serving Him.

Many say that Christians are intolerant and dogmatic – Here Paul says very clearly that Christianity, by its very nature, is intolerant. Paul is advocating the faith, not a faith. The Romans had no problem with Christians saying, they were on more religion, operating among the other religions. They had a problem when Paul quoted Christ, when He said, “I am the way, . . .no man comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus is the only way.

(v. 10) “to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come” – The Lord’s coming back is mentioned in every chapter in 1 Thessalonians. Paul tells them they have a present work to do now, share the gospel, continue to live out a life as an example, but also there is a future hope.

The word “wait” is given in the present tense. They had turned to God in one deliberate choice, but there remained the constant day-after-day expectation. They were constantly looking for the return of the Lord. But not as the early disciples who sat by Jesus’ tomb, the angel told them, Acts 1:1-11 “And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven?” Serving the risen Lord, and waiting for His return go together.

Paul reminds us that Jesus died for the sins of mankind (delivering us from the wrath to come) on a Roman cross and was placed in tomb, where he then was raised from the dead, and has returned to Heaven. Now we who have turned to God through faith in Christ wait for His return.

“from the wrath to come” – Paul closes chapter 1 with the reminder that there is a day of judgment that is to come. God is going to judge this sinful world. You don’t have to talk with people about Jesus, or share the gospel very long before you will hear someone says, “If God is all powerful then why is there sin in the world today.”

They will give an example of a horrific sin, and then say, if God is all loving then why would He allow an innocent to suffer in that way? (the Jewish Holocaust, child sex trafficking, rape, murder, etc.)

It’s because God has given people the dignity and freedom of choice. If nothing bad would ever happen as a result of those decisions, then there is no true freedom to choose. There is also the result of sin that caused the world to be fallen, so we have mental illness, disease, cancer, etc. There will come a day when all of the results of sin will be made right again.

Paul tells us here that judgment of sin is coming – there will be a day when the wrath of God will be poured out upon mankind for all those sinful decisions. But, “Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come . . .” These believers in Thessalonica can rest in the peace that God has provided a plan for them to escape from that wrath, through their faith in Jesus Christ.

The word used for wrath is When discussing God’s wrath John the Baptist used this same word (Matthew 3:7). He saw this wrath as a desert fire, everywhere, before which snakes would flee. Where can one find safety from a desert fire? Where the fire has already burned. Where may one find safety from God’s wrath, You can find safety where God’s wrath has already been poured out at its’ worst, at Calvary.

Our deliverer is Jesus, “the historic, crucified, risen, ascended, and returning Son of God.”

________________________________

[1] John F. Walvoord, The Thessalonians Epistles (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Dunham Publication, 1968) 7.

[2] A better translation is “for you all” – or “all y’all”

[3] Romans 5:1-5; 1 Corinthians 13:13; Galatians 5:5-6; Colossians 1:4-5; Hebrews 10:22-24; 1 Peter 1:21-22 – all have the triad of faith, hope, and love. Also, when these three words are given, the author usually places them in an order where the emphasis of the author is on the last word. Here, hope is given last and with the mentioning of Christ’s return in every chapter, hope of His return is emphasized.

[4] Michael w. Holmes, The NIV Application Commentary, 1&2 Thessalonians (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan Publishing, 1998) 48.

[5] Clifton J. Allen, General Editor, The Broadman Bible Commentary, 2 Corinthians-Philemon (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman Press, 1971) 265.

[6] Ibid, 265.

[7] Leon Morris, The New International Commentary on the New Testament, The First and Second Epistles to the Thessalonians (Grand Rapids, Michigan; WM. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1984) 53.

[8] Allen, 265.

[9] Ibid, 266.

[10] Morris, 56.

[11] Concepts of Spirit and power going together; Romans 1:4; 15:13, 19; 1 Corinthians 2:4; Galatians 3:5; Romans 1:4; 2 Timothy 1:7,8.

[12] Walvoord, 15.

[13] William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary, Thessalonians, Timothy and Titus (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Baker Publishing, 1987) 50.

[14] Ibid, 50.

[15] Morris, 58.

[16] George Arthur Buttrick, General Editor, The Interpreter’s Bible, Volume 11 (Nashville, Tennessee; Abingdon Press, 1955) 245.

[17] Homes, 48.

[18] Buttrick, 261.

[19] “to ring out” (execheo), found only here in the NT.

[20] Allen, 268.

[21] Walvoord, 16.

[22] Hendriksen, 51.

"Your greatest life messages and your most effective ministry will come out of your deepest hurts." Rick Warren

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