Approved by God? 1 Thessalonians 2:4 (NIV)

1 Thessalonians 2:4 (NIV) On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts.

"On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel."

The KJV version uses the term allowed instead of approved. The word in the Greek is:
dokimazo, and means to test or approve. It can imply an examination.

Vine's NT words says this of dokimazo:
To prove with a view to approval.
In 1Thess 2:4, the Apostle and his fellow-missionaries were "approved of God to be entrusted with the Gospel" (not "allowed," AV). Not permission to preach, but Divine "approval" after Divine testing is intended. See ALLOW, DISCERN, EXAMINE, LIKE, PROVE, REFUSE, TRY.

[ A-3,Verb,G1381, dokimazo ]
signifies "to test, prove, scrutinize," so as "to decide." It is translated "discern" in the AV of Luke 12:56; RV, "interpret" (marg., "prove").

Let me try to make my point. Paul, under the guise of Saul, was a self righteous, educated, zealot, to the point of having jews who chose another way, Jesus, killed. Inspite of all this we know that scripture tells us that before we were born God knew us, and choose us to be His. God saw the horrors that Saul would perform.

Now where did the testing of Paul come into play, and what did that look like?

What we do know is that God knocked Saul off his horse (a very symbolic act) and immediately changed Saul's attitude about who God was. The man Saul, thought he was doing God a favor (An evil theme that echo's throughout scripture and man's tenure here on earth.)

Saul transitions into Paul, and is retaught, spending at least 3 years getting his thinking about who God is straightened out; experiences rejection and prejudice because of his past actions; is brutalized by the same Jews that he once worked in behalf of; shipwrecked; beaten; stoned and left for dead, and imprisoned because of the gospel he now preached.

God changes Paul's attitude.
Lets take the wide view and say that God tested him. Does anything happen without God's eye on it. So, then God is testing. We should know that we are to be tested with fire to see if our works will hold up. The question is whether that testing is happening now, while we live on this earth, or in heaven.

No, I cannot get Job out of my mind as I write this. None of us want to be tested, but more than likely we are.

God places his word in you, now what have you done with it? God seems to expect that word to do something.

Proverbs 6:23 (NIV) "For these commands are a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the corrections of discipline are the way to life,";

Hebrews 4:12 (NIV) "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."

This is present tense, no matter what the timing, for God's word is always now. His word is intended to have a now effect upon you, and therefore change should come. But change is easy when there is no opposition, nothing to test you and find out what effect the Word of God had upon you.

How has God approved of you, or better yet, in what ways has God been testing you to see what you are made of? And, if you can answer the question, have you been holding up.

Think of yourself as a Samurai sword. The metal, under the hand of a skilled blacksmith, must heated, folded, and pounded into shape repeatedly, in an effort to obtain the strongest, sharpest sword.

Turning to God from idols. 1 Thessalonians 1:9

1 Thessalonians 1:9 (NIV)  for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,

"....you turned to God from idols.."
Does anyone notice something about this scene. Paul, the scripture tells us, preached in the Synagogue; Pagans would not have been allowed inside, therefore this had to have been a primarily Jewish audience.
To make the statement "you turned to God from idols" implies in-mass. What were Jews doing worshiping idols? A foolish question, for this had been a problem with the Jews for generations, and guess what, we followers of Christ do it too.

Leviticus 17:7  (NIV)
They must no longer offer any of their sacrifices to the goat idols to whom they prostitute themselves.

Leviticus 26:30  (NIV)
I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars and pile your dead bodies on the lifeless forms of your idols, and I will abhor you.

Deuteronomy 32:21  (NIV)
They made me jealous by what is no god and angered me with their worthless idols. I will make them envious by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding.

Judges 17:5  (NIV)
Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some idols and installed one of his sons as his priest.

This last guy is a clear demonstration that they had attempted an integration of God with gods'. So, it is not a new phenomenon. The writer of Hebrews makes what I think is a peculiar statement in Hebrews 13:9.
"Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, NOT by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them."

We, today, use this passage to beat up the other denominations that disagree with us. Just listen to some of the radio programs on the "Christian" channels, and you will hear it. We are all in the same big boat, headed toward heaven, but we are shoving our paddles in the water trying to turn the boat every which way, at the same time. No wonder the world cannot handle religion, we can't either. And the reality is we keep trying to take control from God instead of letting the Holy Spirit have its way, and do the teaching. This Christian life is not that difficult and yet it has taken me 56 years to find this out. Here is the formula. I am giving it to you for free.
Love the Lord, love on people, and live a quiet life.
Now, how hard can that be!

So the strange teaching, in this case above, has something to do with the preparation of food. Food is prepared everyday, in homes and places to eat. Now mind you with the prices you pay, and the whoopla that goes into preparation of the "food", it is easier to see how this could be an idol, and for many it is. One pastor I sat under, had to tell us that he would not eat this common food served around here. He told us that he would take his  wife into downtown LosAngeles to eat lunch at the Ritz whatever. I no longer go to that church and have no interest in doing so.

But there was definitely something being done or said over the food, being referred to in Hebrews, that, in the mind of the person eating it, had some benefit over just satisfying hunger, because there was something more being done to it other than cooking it. You can ascertain that because the writer has to make the statement "it is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them."

Clearly the writer of Hebrews is in agreement with strengthening the heart.That would be the mind and soul of a person, but the strengthening should be done by grace.
Done by grace?

The ISBE has much to say about the word Grace.
1. The Word Charis:

 In the English New Testament the word "grace" is always a translation of (charis), a word that occurs in the Greek text something over 170 times (the reading is uncertain in places). In secular Greek of all periods it is also a very common word, and in both Biblical and secular Greek it is used with far more meanings than can be represented by any one term in English Primarily
.
But the word has abundant use in secular Greek in the sense of unmerited favor, and Paul seized on this meaning of the word to express a fundamental characteristic of Christianity. The basic passage is Rom 11:5; Rom 11:6, where as a definition is given, "If it is by grace, it is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace." That the word is used in other senses could have caused no 1st-century reader to miss the meaning, which, indeed, is unmistakable. "Grace" in this sense is an attitude on God's part that proceeds entirely from within Himself, and that is conditioned in no way by anything in the objects of His favor.

In Acts 15:40; 14:26 we see a special blessing of God (his grace) on a particular undertaking. I believe that the reference to the word in Hebrews has to do with God's work in our lives, and not something that we have conjured up through some act of idolatry.

Look at 1 Cor 8:1-11
"Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that all possess knowledge. ..
vs 4 So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one
vs 7 But not everyone knows this. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled.
vs 8 But food does not bring us near to God

Again, clear evidence that these people believed in some god like quality, inherent in their idols, being able to transfer to their food. If their ceremonies to their gods involved some kind of food there had to be some perceived benefit from the eating, and thus we have the admonition of Hebrews 13:9.

3 sessions

3 sessions and their lives were changed forever.
Some people go to the psychiatrist for years and never change. These people turned almost instantly from their idols to worship God. If they were Jews alone why would that be such an incredible thing. This statement has such a western way of thinking embedded in it. In general we modern Americans do not think of idol worship in the same way. Our version does not come with so much fanfare, unless we are involved with Satanism or some other extreme. No, the worship of idols such as a car, food or money, is done quietly and with reserve.
Idol worship, that which takes the place of God, is subtle, and stealthily integrated into our lives. We are bombarded with it's hooks by the messages on the television, on a daily basis. Oh yes, we have our fair share of idols too.

If you have read the New Testament to any degree then you might be aware that Paul was well capable of preaching long into the night. One young man could certainly attest to that, because the young man fell asleep while Paul was preaching, and fell out of the window. He was probably dead from snapping his neck on impact, but Paul prayed for him, he was healed, and Paul continued preaching.
The point is that Paul may have only taught on 3 consecutive Sabbaths, but they might have marathon sessions. Paul only preached there 3 times because the zealous, religious Jews ran him out. Paul was preaching these freedoms based upon scripture (the Torah), that these listeners knew, and he was doing it in the synagogue. Everything about this situation seems impossible, and yet there is it, and this, along with every stop Paul made, began the process of changing the world toward Christ.

I used to watch a cartoon when I was a child, and it always ended with a moral to the story. If there is a moral to Paul it is that he was willing. God took that willingness and changed a world. Oh, by the way; get the idols out of your life and give God first place, as He should be.

Jesus who rescues us.

1 Thessalonians 1:10 (NIV)  and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead--Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

If you have read any of my commentaries on 1 Thessalonians you may have heard this on several occasions; Paul seems to have only spoken to these people on 3 occasions. He did this in the synagogue, therefore the gentiles were effectively excluded from the direct impact of Paul's messages. This is not a put down on Paul, but it means that any effect that the gospel message had on the gentiles was only by assimilation from the Jews that experienced a new life in Christ.

"and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead -.."
 If I sit under some ministry and they preach a revelation from the word that is new to me. Perhaps it has an immediate impact, but my memory is short now and it takes repetition for something to get stuck in my brain, not to mention my spirit, but that is my interpretation.

Why would you wait for something that you did not believe in? You wouldn't.
If you only had 3 sessions with a group would you preach the same message to them, or would you try to cover as much ground as possible?

"-Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath."
It becomes glaringly apparent that he preached that we were to be rescued. The word rapture does not occur in the Greek, but the concept does in the word harpazo, which means a snatching away. Rapture derives from the Latin Vulgate and is the word rapio, meaning a snatching away.

What are we being snatched away from? Some sort of coming wrath.
We here in America have no idea what wrath is, but we are going to learn. In places like the Sudan, Nigeria, Egypt, or Somalia where followers of Christ are brutally murdered because they believe in something other than Islam. It is only the fact that we maintain law and order in this nation that prevents those that follow the Islamic mandates, as our current President does, from carrying out those mandates. Oh sure, they will tell you that they are a peaceful religion, but lying for the benefit of Allah is one of those mandates. I am telling you, and you can take it prophetically or not, the day is coming when killing you for being a follower of Christ will be the right thing to do. It is quite possible that the great snatching away of Christ's followers will be the trigger for all this.

When we think of escaping the tribulation, I cannot help thinking that "the tribulation" is such a relative thing. Clearly there are those that are not escaping tribulation. Having a house, and your dreams of success, taken away from you is defined as tribulation for some. There are people in this world that, if they are lucky, make just enough money on a daily basis, to eat one bowl of some kind of soup. So what you consider tribulation means nothing to them. You think tribulation is not being to get your text messages for ten minutes.

Consider: Israel escapes from Egypt. Several million people take off with the Pharaoh and his army in hot pursuit. God has promised them an escape from the wrath of Egypt, and yet they are confronted by a body of water that creates it own tribulation. Do you realize that they had to confront this tribulation? The priests had to step into the water. That would mean that our religious leadership is going to have to step into the fire slightly ahead of the rest of us, leading the way.

If this is a type of our own salvation to come, then it may be that the tribulation to come will make it right up to our doorsteps. If that is the case, what will you do?