Exalting Jesus in 1 & 2 Thessalonians Quotes

“You will never be passionate about something in which you don’t fully believe. You may be able to fake your passion for Christ for a season, but it will be sure to wither when the heat of affliction comes. How far you are willing to go and how much discomfort you are willing to experience for the sake of the gospel will say much about what you truly believe.”
― Mark Howell, Exalting Jesus in 1 & 2 Thessalonians

“Following Jesus Christ was the sum of their entire existence. At the moment when life itself was on the line, nothing else mattered besides identifying themselves with Him. For these faithful believers, the name “Christian” was much more than a religious designation. It defined everything about them, including how they viewed both themselves and the world around them. The label underscored their love for a crucified Messiah along with their willingness to follow Him no matter the cost. It told of the wholesale transformation God had produced in their hearts, and witnessed to the fact that they had been made completely new in Him. They had died to their old way of life, having been born again into the family of God. Christian was not simply a title, but an entirely new way of thinking—one that had serious implications for how they lived—and ultimately how they died.”
― Mark Howell, Exalting Jesus in 1 & 2 Thessalonians

“God uses every circumstance, even our sufferings and afflictions, to prepare us for future glory. Our faithfulness in affliction and steadfast hope in trials reveals the genuineness of our faith. So we demonstrate our worthiness of His calling by passionately pursuing God regardless of our circumstances. We do not prove ourselves worthy of His calling in order to be saved, but are proved worthy because we are saved.”
― Mark Howell, Exalting Jesus in 1 & 2 Thessalonians

“Timothy Keller makes the point well: Some suffering is given in order to chastise and correct a person for wrongful patterns of life (as in the case of Jonah imperiled by the storm), some suffering is given not to correct past wrongs but to prevent future ones (as in the case of Joseph sold into slavery), and some suffering has no purpose other than to lead a person to love God more ardently for himself alone and so discover the ultimate peace and freedom. (Keller, Walking with God, 47)”
― Mark Howell, Exalting Jesus in 1 & 2 Thessalonians

“Only God could take the deepest of human sorrows and in only six verses transform them into hope. That is exactly what this passage is about—hope. Death does not have the final word. The false teachers do not have the final word. Human speculation does not have the final word. Into the darkness of our confusion, God shines the light of His truth. God’s truth can transform ignorance into understanding, grief into joy, and hopelessness into assurance.”
― Mark Howell, Exalting Jesus in 1 & 2 Thessalonians