Drew Boswell

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2 Thessalonians Sermon Series: Return of the King “Glorifying God in Tribulation” 2 Thessalonians 1:1-12

2 Thessalonians Sermon Series:

Return of the King

“Glorifying God in Tribulation”

2 Thessalonians 1:1-12

Introduction

Robert Frost, “The Road Not Taken”

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

“The Road Not Taken” has confused audiences literally from the beginning. In the spring of 1915, Frost sent an envelope to Edward Thomas that contained only one item: a draft of “The Road Not Taken,” under the title “Two Roads.” According to Lawrance Thompson, Frost had been inspired to write the poem by Thomas’s habit of regretting whatever path the pair took during their long walks in the countryside—an impulse that Frost equated with the romantic predisposi­tion for “crying over what might have been.” Frost, Thompson writes, believed that his friend “would take the poem as a gentle joke and would protest, ‘Stop teasing me.’”[1]

In today’s passage the church in Thessalonica have to make a choice, continue on the Christian faith despite hardship and persecution – are they going to regret making this choice to follow Christ, perhaps they are struggling with why God is allowing them to go through this.

Biblical scholars believe that the person who delivered 1 Thessalonians stayed long enough to see the effect the letter from Paul had upon the early church. Then this person returned back to Paul and gave a report. Paul then penned the second letter to the Thessalonians.[2] It is also believed that the new church received an intentional forgery indicating that “the Day of the Lord” and its judgements was already occurring.[3] This went against what Paul taught them in the first letter to the Thessalonians.

The report that Paul received told him that they church had “made progress in their faith and love (1:3). They had remained firm under repeated outbreaks of persecution (1:4). Also, their distress about the death of their loved ones had been relieved by the teachings of the First Epistle. But their excitement relative to the second coming had been intensified. They were agitated by the view “that the day of the Lord is already here (2 Thess. 2:2).”[4] Some quit working, some become busy bodies, meddling in others business, so Paul responds to these conditions.

Prayer

The Growing Church is Encouraged (vv. 1-4).

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. 4 Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.

Paul is writing the church to address specific issues (not working, wrong ideas about the return of Christ), but he first recognizes that for the most part, there are a majority of people who are “growing abundantly.” And while that small minority might be causing enough of an issue that it requires a letter to be written, he focuses first on those whose “love of every one of you for one another is increasing.”

In life it is sometimes so easy to focus on the one or two things that are wrong, and lose sight that there is a vast number of things that are right. The church is being persecuted, but they are being steadfast in their faith, they are enduring great afflictions, and yet Paul says, “your faith is growing abundantly.”

When a person puts their faith in Jesus, they believe in Christ’s deity, that He is capable of saving them from their sin, but it is also possible to learn by experience to trust the Lord in all things – this is a process that we grow in. As Christians go through life, they learn to trust God in different ways. Some even trust God for the eternal, but not the problem right in front of them.[5]

Paul doesn’t start with the problems and what is wrong, he starts with what is right. He even says, “We ought always to give thanks to God for you” We ought to begin with thanksgiving for what God is doing. There will always be issues that the church must work through, we are people after all, but the things we tend to focus on, what holds a majority of our attention, determines our overall view of the situation.

Paul is taking a moment to celebrate what God is doing in this church in spite of all the difficulty that surrounded it. We also, before we focus on the negative, ought to take time to thank God for what He is doing, and all the positive things we see Him doing in others around us. Otherwise, you just focus on the negative all the time. It’s always easier to see the bad, it takes extra effort to see the good.

If Paul had started with the few trouble makers, then it would have been like pouring cold water all over the many who that were growing in their faith, being an example to surrounding cities, and were excited themselves about what God was doing.

Also, Paul is acknowledging that they were growing, “In 1 Thessalonians Paul prayed for growth in faith, love, and hope (1:3). Now he thanked God that the Thessalonians had achieved this.”[6]

(v. 4) Paul praises them by saying, “your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.” He is boasting to other churches about how they were remaining steadfast, “As they kept on growing in faith and bearing abundant fruit in love, Paul kept on boasting about them in other churches of God.”[7]

The word used for steadfastness means patience, or “remaining under.”[8] Christians have burdens and cares they are under, or are carrying and want to get rid of them, yet remain under them. The steadfast person remains under the stress and burden and adjusts himself to the circumstances that he is called to live.

This church is being persecuted because of their work for the Lord, and they are growing in their ability stand up under this weight. Their situation was the same as when Paul left, but the church, the members were not the same – they were growing in their faith.

“persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring” – the way Paul used the word enduring means that it is relentless, constant, there is no letting up. So in these opening verses Paul is commending them on their growth in love and faith. They are growing in how they are loving God, and how they are loving others, in spite of the circumstances around them. Whatever is going on in your life, there is no excuse for not growing in your relationship with the Lord.

 God’s Promise to The Faithful (vv. 5-8a)

5 This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— 6 since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 8 in flaming fire, . . . 

 (v. 5) “This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God” – Now, Paul jumps from the present when they are suffering, to the future when those who persecute and cause them harm will suffer. The word for evidence is used only here in the New Testament and it means “proof.”

God’s judgement is given in the context of history. That judgment of God “will be in keeping with the evidence (proof) as found in the individual’s life on earth and the subsequent results of that life in the lives of others.”[9]

God’s people may be in affliction now, but at the final judgement the ones afflicting them on earth will be in affliction.[10]

(v. 7) “and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels” – Paul is also saying that this will not last forever. When Christ returns, all of His followers will be granted relief, rest. All the pain, suffering, persecution, hatred, . . . all of it will end.

In their suffering and pain, God has not left them to figure it out. Followers of God will experience God as his helper, and it has been this way since the beginning. “The patriarchs declared it, the prophets experienced it, the psalmists sang it, the disciples rejoiced in it, the martyrs evidenced it, and in the succeeding days men and women of every kindred and people and tongue have cried with those who have marched the rugged way before them: “‘God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear (Psalm 46:1-2).’”[11]

Paul is saying that the fact that they have been able to stand up under the weight of persecution, and absorb this punishment with patience is evidence of God’s power working in their lives. Also, God is working in their lives “making them worthy of the kingdom of God,” And there is a coming judgement.

 God’s Promise to the Faithless (vv. 8b-10)

. . . inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10 when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.

I don’t think the intention of Paul is to say, “those who hurt you, will be hurt.” Instead it is a reminder that you once were one of those who hurt people, but now you are not destined toward that future, you are now going in a different direction – because of your belief in the gospel.

The difference between the two groups of people is those that know God, and those that do not know God (not the good and the bad). Romans 3:23 says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

How then does one come to know God? You know God and are known by God by “obeying the gospel of our Lord Jesus.” What then is the gospel?

So why would God punish someone who does not receive the gospel? Because like the persecutors of the church they have caused harm to themselves and others. (see the Ten Commandments).

(v. 9) There is are two time-limits that a person has to respond to the invitation of the gospel, their own death and Christ’s return (if they are still alive). There is also a time restriction to the state of those that know him and those that do not know him. Those that do not know Him, “will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.”

The second part of the sentence explains the first[12]: What Paul means by “Eternal destruction” is being “Away from the presence of the Lord and “Away from the glory of his might.”[13] Eternal Life and Eternal Destruction are exact opposites. Eternal life is to be in the presence of the Lord and to experience His majesty, Eternal Destruction is to be away from the presence of the Lord and His majesty. [14]

Glorifying God With Our Lives (vv. 11-12)

11 To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, 12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul is telling the church about the future, not to satisfy their curiosity, but for them (and us) to take action based on that information. “This is the point Paul makes here. He has reviewed their sufferings, and how God is able to take care of them. He has discussed how the wicked will be punished in due time. Then he makes a practical application. If this is our destiny, if there is glory ahead, if we are to be in the very presence of our glorious Savior, what an exhortation it constitutes to live for Christ right now.”[15]

Our lives are to be lived in such a way as to bring glory to God. Paul says, “so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you” – this is his prayer for the church, that God has given us so much, that we must grow in our walk with the Lord, and live in such a way as to “make you worthy of his calling.”

Psalm 19:1-2 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. 2 Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.” Creation declares the glory of God in intelligent design.[16] The heavens show His wisdom, power, and purpose in designing all creation for an intelligent end. Nature reveals that God is and what He can do.

But they do not reveal the love of God, nor His righteousness. “That is where Christians come into the picture. We are designed to show “the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ (Eph. 2:7).”

If we are to share that message with the world, then we must submit to the gospel message, and be an example to others of what the power of God and his grace can do in a person.

“I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.”

Have you made the choice to follow Christ, to put your faith in Him? Do you know Him and His gospel?

__________________________

[1] https://lithub.com/youre-probably-misreading-robert-frosts-most-famous-poem/

[2] D. Edmond Hiebert, An Introduction to the Pauline Epistles (Chicago, Illinois; Moody Press, 1954) 60.

[3] John F. Walvoord, The Thessalonian Epistles (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Dunham Publication, 1968) 101.

[4] Hiebert, 60.

[5] Walvoord, 105.

[6] Clifton Allen, Broadman Bible Commentary, Volume 11 (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman Publishing, 1971) 286.

[7] Allen, 286.

[8] Walvoord, 106.

[9] Allen, 287. See also Buttrick, 319. This is the only use of the word for proof , rare in classical Greek.

[10] lex talionis – the law of retaliation, “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth.”

[11] George Arthur Buttrick, Commentary Editor, The Interpreter’s Bible, Volume 11 (Nashville, Tennessee; Abingdon Press, 1955) 320.

[12] Hendiadys

[13] Michael Holmes, The NIV Application Commentary, 1 & 2 Thessalonians (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan Publishing, 1998) 215.

[14] Nature fights on the side of the good (Rev 12). “Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceedingly small.” Longfellow, “Poetic Aphorisms: Retribution.” Sinngedichte of Frederich von Logau Buttrick, 323).

[15] Walvood, 111.

[16] Ontological argument for the existence of God.

Seeking Wisdom in Difficult Days A Study of James The Purpose of Pain James 1:1-12

Seeking Wisdom in Difficult Days

A Study of James

The Purpose of Pain

James 1:1-12

Introduction

  • Helping a butterfly out of its’ chrysalis. It’s all about the struggle.

Prayer

A Servant Leader (v. 1)

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.

James was well known by the various churches, he is an elder, and an apostle (Galatians 1:19), the half-brother of Jesus, but he doesn’t refer to himself in those terms – instead, he chooses to call himself, “a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.” He is one who has authority, yet refers to himself as a servant (servant-leader).

He is writing the scattered church described as “the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:” (diaspora) who are experiencing persecution. In the original Greek “Dispersion” means “scattered.” James is using metaphorical language to describe the scattered church (twelve tribes meaning all of the church) who are living in places other than their home (with Christ in heaven).[1]

Acts 11:19 gives us some background as to when and the church in Palestine was scattered, “Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews.” Stephen was a Christian believer that was stoned and sparked persecution in the early church, where they scattered as far as “Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch,” Saul, who we later know as Paul the apostle, was determined to destroy the Christian church and was going to house to house forcibly taking men and women to prison.[2]

Finding Joy in a Sea of Sorrow (vv. 2-4)

2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

“meet trails” the word used here for meet means to “fall into” and trials can mean inward affliction, as in a temptation to sin in a particular way, or an outward affliction such as being persecuted.[3] Here it seems to indicate, “afflictions, troubles, or difficulties.”[4] Jesus in his parable in Luke 10:30 in discussing the Good Samaritan said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, . . .” When man looks up, he finds himself surrounded by robbers.[5]

In all of these trials that the Christian may find himself in, we are to meet these events head on with joy – We don’t wait until everything is over, the dust settles, and look back, and then choose joy – as we wade through the difficulty, like James, consider ourselves servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.

When we sit down and consider our time in experiencing these trials we are to “count it all joy” When a person has joy, they have an emotional response to having a long-term view of life. Happiness is a short-term view; it is a response to what is immediately in front of you and what you are experiencing in the moment.

James knows that to be joyful in trials is absurd.[6] So he addresses this by helping us to see the benefits of the trials. We are joyful regarding our salvation (Psalm 51:12) because it is an eternal perspective. We lose hope when we move our gaze from the long view to what is immediately in front of us.

We are to count it joy because there is an end result that is happening in our lives. These trials are producing something within us that is strengthening our faith. Trails do not show whether we have faith or not, they strengthen what is already there.

The visual imagery we are to see is one of metal being heated up and the dross and waste rises to the top where it is siphoned off.[7] The metal is then made stronger and purer.[8] Your pain and heartache will not be wasted; God is doing a work in your life.

“you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness” – steadfastness is defined as “patient endurance,” and it is these tests that lead to the ability to endure.[9]

The apostle Paul says some similar in Romans 5:3-5, “we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

Some years ago, I decided that I wanted to run a marathon, and having ran several half-marathons I set out on a training schedule. Usually, you run increasing miles over several months to where you have a “long run” – and for me, the long runs were on Friday morning, where I would run until lunch time. If you missed a week of training, the miles would jump up instead of by two to four mile differences. Your body would go into shock if you set out to run 26.2 miles with no training, no preparation – but if you slowly add mile after mile, week after week your body adjusts – you build endurance.

“let steadfastness have its full effect” – The pain and suffering will happen, that’s a part of life. But the process that God desires to work in our lives, the “steadfastness” has to be allowed in the life of the believer. We have to let the patient endurance point us toward spiritual growth – otherwise it is for nothing that we went through the trial.[10]

Patient endurance or steadfastness is not the end goal, it is the means to get there. The ultimate goal that God is working in our lives is so, “that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” To be perfect in this circumstance is to be mature – a perfect plant is one fully mature because it can accomplish what it is supposed to accomplish.

To be complete is to be adequate, or to be fully “what God requires and approves.”[11] “to have all your parts, whole, not unsound anywhere” The word is used of stones untouched by a tool, of an animal without blemish.[12]

God’s favor upon our lives is not that we avoid distress, but God’s working in us that we are “lacking in nothing.” It is so encouraging to be around mature Christians – they are joyful and they trained to do the work of the church. Very few things rattle them; they have seen it before and endured through it.

The trials and the resulting consequences in the life of the believer are directly linked to the character of God, and God is the only one deserving of such trust. The believer trusts that the pain and suffering have a purpose and that God has the believer’s best interest in mind.[13]

If we don’t believe in God then life has no meaning and the pain is just pain. If we believe in God but have a wrong understanding of His character, then He is seen as cruel for allowing it to happen, or weak because He did not keep it from happening. But James shows us that God is good and has an eternal view in mind of our pain and suffering.

Jesus says in Matthew 13:44 “The kingdom of heaven[14] is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” The man would feel the pain of selling all that he has, but he is joyful in his loss because of what he will gain by purchasing the field (the treasure). When we take a long-term view of suffering, we should choose joy because of what we gain in the end.

“Paul and Silas sing in the Philippian prison because the bars could not prevent their serving Christ’s cause. In that service they found the source of their happiness, so their trials only proved their faith and the steadfastness of their devotion.”[15]

Two Stumbling Blocks to Our Spiritual Growth 

1) A Lack of Wisdom (vv. 5-8)

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Tennyson says, “knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers.”[16] For James in his discussion of wisdom, he is talking about the right use of one’s opportunities in holy living. We need wisdom in order to properly view the trials that we encounter. If we don’t have this wisdom, then we can “ask God, who gives generously.”

Paul reminds the church in Corinth that the wisdom of God appears foolish to the world, just as the wisdom of the world appears foolish in God’s sight.[17]

God doesn’t answer all of our prayers the way we desire, especially as they may relate to our experiencing less pain in trials, but He is always willing to “say yes” for our request for wisdom. With wisdom he doesn’t talk about the cost, or your lack of it – He gives it generously and doesn’t bring up the past. But, there is a requirement – we are to ask “ask in faith, with no doubting.”

A father once came to Jesus and asked for help for his son in Mark 9:21-24 “And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 22 And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” 23 And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” We ask God for wisdom, we pray to Him, and believe that He will help us and answer our prayer – but if we don’t really believe then why are we asking?

When we pray there are two wills that are coming together, our will and God’s will. When you seek God’s will in prayer, while still wanting to hold on to your own – this is being double-minded. “Lead me oh God, except in the direction that I do not wish to go.”

“To doubt is to have a divided mind that draws him two ways, like the poor donkey that starved because he could not choose between two stacks of hay.”[18] The end result of doubt is inaction. The testing of faith leads to perseverance, but doubt leads to unstableness. When James is talking about double-mindedness he means trusting in God and trusting in the world. You can’t do both.

“the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.” This person sways back and forth in life. Whenever a hard time comes they are moved, because they don’t trust God. They have no anchor of hope – holding them in one place.

Paul in writing to the church in Ephesus says that the spiritual leadership’s job was to equip the church “so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” (Ephesians 4:14) but here instead of bad doctrine causing the tumult it is trying to live in two worlds at the same time.

The promises of the gospel all assume a commitment of the individual to, and trust in, God – The foundational issue is trust. Where does your trust lie? If you trust in yourself to take on the world, then don’t pray to God and seek His help. But if you trust in Him for salvation, and life in general, then continue to trust that He will answer your prayers in the way that is best for you.

2) Money (vv. 9-11)[19]

9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

Another area that may trip up a person with regard to their spiritual growth is money. It is easy to have a worldy view of wealth in that riches brings happiness. “James has a different ideal of happiness because he holds a different theory of the meaning and purpose of life. The purpose of life cannot be accomplished by the attainment of ease or luxurious comfort, but only in the achievement of Christlike character.”[20]

Just like earlier during trials we are to have a long view, and how joy has a long view, our station in life (rich or poor) is a short-term thing (in comparison to eternity). “like a flower of the grass he will pass away”

No matter how much wealth a person may have, eventually he will face eternity, and you can’t take it with you, whether that be a luxury yacht, or a brown paper lunch. Job said 1:21, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return.” So our life’s truly only have significance when it is concentrated on the eternal. Power and wealth are a means to an end – not the end in and of themselves. To be better off is not to be better.

In light of this long view of life and eternity, James says, “Let the lowly brother,” he is encouraging us to remember that we are all brothers in Christ, and that we will spend eternity together. In Christ we stand at the foot of the cross on level ground.

12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

 The crown mentioned here was a wreath awarded to the winner in athletic games in recognition of an achievement built upon rigorous discipline.[21] James describes to us the Christian life as being active and strenuous and as we grow in endurance and character there is a promised reward from God for the trials.

We endure the trials, and endure the pain because we love the one who loved us first, and gave His only Son for our salvation.

_________________________

[1] See John 7:35; 1 Peter 1:1.

[2] George M. Sulac, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series, James (Downers Grove, Illinois; Intervarsity, Press, 1993) 31.

[3] Satan referred to as a pirate; Matt. 4:4; 1 Cor. 7:5; 10:13; 1 Thess. 3:5; 1 Tim. 6:9 (Nystrom, 47).

[4] Clifton Allen, Gen. Ed., Broadman Bible Commentary, Volume 12 (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman Press, 1972) 107.

[5] A. T. Robertson, Studies in the Epistle of James (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman Press, 1959) 34.

[6] David Nystrom, The NIV Application Commentary, James (Grand Rapids Michigan; Zondervan Publishing House, 1997) 48.

[7] “For gold is tried in the fire, and acceptable men in the furnace of adversity.” (Sirach 2:5,  apocryphal book). Robertson, 37.

[8] Moo, 60.

[9] George Arthur Buttrick, The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, R-Z (Nashville, Tennessee; Abingdon Press, 1962) 440.

[10] Peter H. Davids, New International Biblical Commentary, James (Peabody, Massachusetts; Hendrickson Publishing, 1989) 28.

[11] Allen, 108.

[12] Robertson, 40. It is also used of a complete or unbroken household.

[13] Nystron, 49.

[14] See sermon on King of God and its’ meaning – https://drewboswell.com/424413-2/

[15] Buttrick, 22.

[16] Ibid.

[17] See 1 Cor. 1:18-21.

[18] Robertson, 43.

[19] Sic transit gloria mundi is a Latin phrase that means “Thus passes the glory of the world.” It has been interpreted as “Worldly things are fleeting.” It is possibly an adaptation of a phrase in Thomas à Kempis’s 1418 work The Imitation of Christ: “O quam cito transit gloria mundi”.

[20] George Arthur Buttrick, The Interpreter’s Bible, Volume 12 (Nashville, Tennessee; Abingdon Press, 1957) 22.

[21] Buttrick, 26.

 

 

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

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