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		<title><![CDATA[Columbus Baptist Church's Podcast]]></title>
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		<itunes:subtitle><![CDATA[Sermons]]></itunes:subtitle>
		<itunes:author><![CDATA[Christopher Freeman]]></itunes:author>
		<itunes:summary><![CDATA[Wanting to listen to all our sermons? Not just the last 10? Go to http://columbusbc.com/church-cast 

These are the sermons and services of Columbus Baptist Church.

We are located at 1258 Palms Rd. in Columbus MI 48063

You can reach us at 810-367-3094 or secretary@columbusbc.com

]]></itunes:summary>
		<description><![CDATA[Wanting to listen to all our sermons? Not just the last 10? Go to http://columbusbc.com/church-cast 

These are the sermons and services of Columbus Baptist Church.

We are located at 1258 Palms Rd. in Columbus MI 48063

You can reach us at 810-367-3094 or secretary@columbusbc.com

]]></description>
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			<itunes:name><![CDATA[Columbus Baptist Church]]></itunes:name>
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				<title><![CDATA[19 I Thessalonians 5:23-28 Abandoned, But Not Alone]]></title>
				<category>Podcast</category>
				<itunes:author><![CDATA[Christopher C. Freeman]]></itunes:author>
				<itunes:subtitle><![CDATA[Title: Abandoned, But Not Alone

Text: 1 Thessalonians 5:23-28

FCF: We often struggle feeling alone while we strive for wholeness.

Prop: Because God gives all we need to make us whole, we must grow in holiness.

 

Scripture Intro: LSB

[Sli...]]></itunes:subtitle>
				<itunes:summary><![CDATA[Title: Abandoned, But Not Alone

Text: 1 Thessalonians 5:23-28

FCF: We often struggle feeling alone while we strive for wholeness.

Prop: Because God gives all we need to make us whole, we must grow in holiness.

 

Scripture Intro: LSB

[Slide 1] Turn in your bible to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. In a moment we’ll read from the Legacy Standard Bible starting in verse 23 and going to the end of the book. You can follow along in the pew bible or in whatever version you prefer.

 

Today we will wrap up the book of 1 Thessalonians. Paul has, essentially, finished what he desired to say to the fledgling church in Thessalonica. He has encouraged them. He has rebuked them. He has corrected them. He has instructed them.

 

We’ll save our final overview of the book until after we complete 2 Thessalonians. There are so many themes that overlap that it is wiser to just wait until we have completed both letters to draw final conclusions.

 

Now, he finishes his letter to them with the second wish-prayer to God for them. He concludes with a benediction.

 

So, what does Paul pray for? Let’s find out.

 

Please stand with me to give honor to and focus on the Word of God as it is read.

 

Invocation:

God of peace. You are our everything. In You we have life and hope. In You alone we have wholeness and holiness. In some ways You have already made us holy by setting us apart as Your people. In other ways You are still making us holy by continually pressing us into the mold of Christ and conforming us to His standard. And yet in other ways You must and will make us perfectly holy and blameless when we shed this body and are given new, glorified bodies for Your eternal kingdom. But what is clear to us Father… is that without You we are without hope. I pray that you would refine us with Your word today and teach us the helps we have in this life to be holy and blameless. May we see the promises of Your word and take comfort and assurance to press on toward the prize of our Savior. We pray this in His name… Amen.

 

Transition:

[Slide 2] “When our holiness is perfect, our happiness shall be perfect; and if this were attainable on earth, there would be but little reason for men to long to be in heaven.” Thomas Brooks

 

“Many of us would pursue holiness with far greater zeal and eagerness if we were convinced that the way of holiness is the way of life ad peace. And that is precisely what it is; there is life and peace no other way.” J.I. Packer

 

[Slide 3] “The ethical demand for holy living is inseparable from what is freely given in the gospel.” Geoffrey B. Wilson

 

“Christ comes with a blessing in each hand: forgiveness in one, holiness in the other.” A.W. Pink

 

“There is no holiness without a warfare.” J.C. Ryle

 

“The beauty of holiness needs no paint.” Matthew Henry

 

Let these words prepare your mind for the exposition of the text this morning.

 

I.)                  God, who called us, will completely sanctify us at Christ’s return, so we must grow in holiness. (23-24)

a.       [Slide 4] 23 - Now may the God of peace Himself

                                                               i.      Paul now hastens on to the end of his letter to the Thessalonian believers.

                                                             ii.      But far from being a throw away goodbye, let me just take you through the richness of this benediction....]]></itunes:summary>
				<description><![CDATA[Title: Abandoned, But Not Alone

Text: 1 Thessalonians 5:23-28

FCF: We often struggle feeling alone while we strive for wholeness.

Prop: Because God gives all we need to make us whole, we must grow in holiness.

 

Scripture Intro: LSB

[Slide 1] Turn in your bible to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. In a moment we’ll read from the Legacy Standard Bible starting in verse 23 and going to the end of the book. You can follow along in the pew bible or in whatever version you prefer.

 

Today we will wrap up the book of 1 Thessalonians. Paul has, essentially, finished what he desired to say to the fledgling church in Thessalonica. He has encouraged them. He has rebuked them. He has corrected them. He has instructed them.

 

We’ll save our final overview of the book until after we complete 2 Thessalonians. There are so many themes that overlap that it is wiser to just wait until we have completed both letters to draw final conclusions.

 

Now, he finishes his letter to them with the second wish-prayer to God for them. He concludes with a benediction.

 

So, what does Paul pray for? Let’s find out.

 

Please stand with me to give honor to and focus on the Word of God as it is read.

 

Invocation:

God of peace. You are our everything. In You we have life and hope. In You alone we have wholeness and holiness. In some ways You have already made us holy by setting us apart as Your people. In other ways You are still making us holy by continually pressing us into the mold of Christ and conforming us to His standard. And yet in other ways You must and will make us perfectly holy and blameless when we shed this body and are given new, glorified bodies for Your eternal kingdom. But what is clear to us Father… is that without You we are without hope. I pray that you would refine us with Your word today and teach us the helps we have in this life to be holy and blameless. May we see the promises of Your word and take comfort and assurance to press on toward the prize of our Savior. We pray this in His name… Amen.

 

Transition:

[Slide 2] “When our holiness is perfect, our happiness shall be perfect; and if this were attainable on earth, there would be but little reason for men to long to be in heaven.” Thomas Brooks

 

“Many of us would pursue holiness with far greater zeal and eagerness if we were convinced that the way of holiness is the way of life ad peace. And that is precisely what it is; there is life and peace no other way.” J.I. Packer

 

[Slide 3] “The ethical demand for holy living is inseparable from what is freely given in the gospel.” Geoffrey B. Wilson

 

“Christ comes with a blessing in each hand: forgiveness in one, holiness in the other.” A.W. Pink

 

“There is no holiness without a warfare.” J.C. Ryle

 

“The beauty of holiness needs no paint.” Matthew Henry

 

Let these words prepare your mind for the exposition of the text this morning.

 

I.)                  God, who called us, will completely sanctify us at Christ’s return, so we must grow in holiness. (23-24)

a.       [Slide 4] 23 - Now may the God of peace Himself

                                                               i.      Paul now hastens on to the end of his letter to the Thessalonian believers.

                                                             ii.      But far from being a throw away goodbye, let me just take you through the richness of this benediction.

                                                           iii.      First, let’s start with the title Paul gives to God.

1.       As he does in three other benedictions, Paul uses the title “God of Peace” to govern this benediction to the Thessalonians.

2.       This title is exclusively used by Paul and the writer of Hebrews a total of 8 times in the New Testament. It is always used in a context where the writer addresses a group of believers who are being persecuted or afflicted for their faith or experiencing trouble or disorder.

3.       Since Paul was Jewish, and the writer of Hebrews obviously has strong roots to Judaism, we might expect there to be an Old Testament connection.

4.       Curiously, the title “God of Peace” is not found in the Old Testament.

5.       The closest we might find is “The Lord is Peace” or “The Lord is our Peace” which is the name Yahweh Shalom.

6.       Now the word Shalom is a rather theologically rich word.

a.       It is used over 350 times in the Old Testament and is often translated peace.

b.       However, the semantic range of this word – and its theological implications do not merely mean the cessation of hostility.

c.       Rather, this word in the Old Testament means… wholeness or completeness.

d.       Shalom means, to be restored to proper order, to be perfectly put back together, and to be reconciled to a right relationship.

e.       In fact, it might be entirely appropriate for us to say that Shalom… means salvation, restoration, and redemption.

f.        God, The Lord, is the bringer of… Shalom. He is the God of… Shalom.

g.       He alone brings order, He alone makes someone complete or whole, and He alone reconciles relationships.

7.       Let’s keep the theological significance of Shalom in mind as we proceed in this context.

8.       May this God of peace…

b.       [Slide 5] sanctify you entirely, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

                                                               i.      What is clear here, is that God being a God of peace is not simply God stopping people from afflicting the Thessalonian church.

                                                             ii.      That is certainly part of it.

                                                           iii.      Actually, as we get to 2 Thessalonians, Paul will assure them that those who are persecuting them and rejecting God will be destroyed by being cast away from the grace and mercy of God.

                                                           iv.      But the focal point of God being a God of peace, is not actually toward those who are afflicting these believers.

                                                             v.      It is toward the Thessalonian church.

                                                           vi.      They are not complete. They are not whole. They are not put together. They are not fully sanctified or holy. They are not perfectly blameless.

                                                          vii.      But the God of Shalom… The God of wholeness. The God of completeness. The God of order…

                                                        viii.      Paul prays that that God would sanctify them entirely or make them complete in their holiness.

                                                            ix.      That their whole person might be kept or preserved completely or entirely blameless at the Lord Jesus’ coming.

                                                             x.      Most likely the triad body, soul, spirit, is an idiom to express the complete person rather than to try to make a doctrinal point about the composition of the being of man.

                                                            xi.      God’s peace is always about the putting down of His enemies. But the first enemy on that list, is the ordering of His people who have been disordered. The completing of His people who are not whole.

                                                          xii.      God being a God of peace… is first… reconciling us into a right relationship with Himself. Which is far more than simply forgiving our sin.

                                                        xiii.      It is making us… holy. Blameless. Righteous.

                                                        xiv.      Paul prayed for this in chapter 3 and he told them it was God’s will for them in chapter 4.

                                                          xv.      And it is God’s will for all His children.

                                                        xvi.      God does NOT save us simply to populate His Kingdom with people who are forgiven sinners.

                                                       xvii.      God saves us to populate His Kingdom with Christ-like, Righteous Lawkeepers.

                                                     xviii.      God doesn’t just calm the storm in us… He brings us to shelter.

                                                        xix.      God takes what is broken, incomplete, and chaotic. And He not only stops it from breaking, losing pieces, and being chaotic. He also fixes, completes, and orders us.

                                                          xx.      Because, make no mistake, to be what God created us to be, and to not be a broken image bearer, we must be holy and blameless.

                                                        xxi.      And just in case we wonder if this is up to us or if there is any possibility that this may not happen for those who are His elect… Paul continues.

c.       [Slide 6] 24 - Faithful is He who calls you, who also will do it.

                                                               i.      The call to which Paul refers here is the effectual call of the Holy Spirit. It is the call that convicts us of our sin, enlightens our minds to know of Christ and His work, it renews our wills, and persuades us and enables us to embrace Jesus Christ freely offered to us in the gospel.

                                                             ii.      The same God who calls His people to salvation in the first place… is faithful and will make sure that the work of renewal, ordering, and completing… is finished.

                                                           iii.      Paul is about to write the letter of Romans. He is a few years away from writing it.

                                                           iv.      But in Romans he says that the God who calls us, justifies us, and the God who justifies us, glorifies us.

                                                             v.      This is essentially saying the same thing.

                                                           vi.      In Philippians, which he will write about a decade from when he wrote this, he says that the same God who began the work of salvation in us by calling us… will eventually finish the work of salvation in us by glorifying us.

                                                          vii.      As Jude says… He will present us faultless before the throne of God.

                                                        viii.      It is upon these teachings that we arrive upon the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. That since it is God who saves us and not ourselves – God is faithful to keep us and preserve us.

                                                            ix.      This doesn’t deny that we have a responsibility to live holy and blameless lives.

                                                             x.      Nor does it deny that there are some who might appear to be genuine believers who eventually fall away.

                                                            xi.      But it certainly does eliminate anyone on that day standing before the throne and claiming that they were holy because of their own efforts.

                                                          xii.      God forbid!

                                                        xiii.      All who stand before that throne, on that day, who are presented holy before God – they will all throw their crowns at Jesus’ feet… why? Because they know He… and He alone… completed them. He reconciled them to God. He, the Prince of Peace, brought them to the God of Peace.

d.       [Slide 7] Summary of the Point: The church in Thessalonica was the poster child of what the gospel could do. It took a bunch of pagans who were worshipping idols and caused them to abandon them all to follow Jesus and live very different and holy lives. But the cultic superstition and city loyalty that permeated the Roman Empire at the time led their friends, families, and their community to abandon them because of their allegiance to Jesus. Paul’s words in 1 Thessalonians are largely encouragement. He expresses His thankfulness to God that they are continuing to walk in a way that pleases God. But he also calls them to continue in this life. To pursue holiness and blamelessness. Something they knew would be quite difficult. And so, in this final wish-prayer that Paul offers for them, he pleads with the God of Shalom… The God of Wholeness to make them whole. The God of Order to order them. And he reminds them that because God is faithful… and has called them… He will surely do this. Though abandoned by men… they are not alone. God will make them complete in holiness and blamelessness at Christ’s return. This does not encourage complacency or laziness though. Instead, it encourages them to do what Paul has said and continue to live holy and blameless lives, knowing that God will do this in them.

 

Transition:

[Slide 8 (blank)] But God is often so difficult to see in these matters. When we are feeling alone and desperate, sometimes it is difficult to feel His watch care over us. What a comfort to know that although He is all we truly need, He has also supplied the church to help us…

 

II.)                Believers are used of God to disciple one another, so we must grow in holiness.  (25-28)

a.       [Slide 9] 25 - Brothers, pray for us.

                                                               i.      Paul up to this point has had his eye on the future kingdom.

                                                             ii.      He prays that God would get them ready for the return of Christ.

                                                           iii.      This is a theme that features heavily in this letter, literally occurring, in some form, in every single chapter.

                                                           iv.      But as any good pastor should do, and as Paul has done throughout this letter, he also needs to leave them with some practical and specific applications for the here and now.

                                                             v.      He begins by exhorting them to pray for them. For the evangelists. For Paul, Silas, and Timothy.

                                                           vi.      If you remember, Paul began the letter letting the Thessalonians know that they were always praying for their church and their faith.

                                                          vii.      Now Paul seeks that the Thessalonian church continue to follow their example and pray for their ministry as it continues in Corinth.

                                                        viii.      For the next 18 months or so, Paul will continue in Corinth with many challenges and ultimately the Lord will bless and establish a thriving church in one of the largest cities in the Roman Empire.

                                                            ix.      They need prayer.

                                                             x.      Indeed, all God’s people need prayer in every context that they continue to walk in His ways and bear witness to the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.

                                                            xi.      If we are to endure in this life, with all the trials and troubles we face, we must pray for one another and seek the Lord to sustain us.

b.       [Slide 10] 26 - Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.

                                                               i.      Now we come to one of the best pick up lines in scripture for single Christian men.

                                                             ii.      You know… the bible says to greet all the brothers with a holy kiss 😊

                                                           iii.      Seriously though, we should wrap our heads around what, exactly, Paul is commanding here.

                                                           iv.      First, the command to greet actually sheds light on what a holy kiss really is.

                                                             v.      No doubt this is a standard form of greeting that close friends or family would give to one another in the Roman Empire at this time.

                                                           vi.      Probably something similar to the cheek to cheek kisses we observe in Italian and Spanish cultures today, although it could include kisses to the forehead as well.

                                                          vii.      More than likely, the kiss would not be given to the opposite gender. There are actually some early writings about church order that expressly refer to this kiss being the kiss of peace only offered to those of the same gender.

                                                        viii.      The fact that Paul calls this a holy kiss is most likely meaning that it is a kind of expression of love that would not be common among people who are not of close blood relation. Therefore, making it extremely different that people of various backgrounds would use this expression of deep love toward one another.

                                                            ix.      There is really no need for us to follow this command literally in our context today. We do not share the cultural implications of a kiss shared among close family.

                                                             x.      This is, however, one defense of an element we continue to keep in our worship services… the greeting or fellowship time.

                                                            xi.      This does not preclude us from fellowshipping, shaking hands, hugging, or even kissing outside of the worship service – but I think the argument could be made that each of these final exhortations could and perhaps should be viewed in a worship setting.

                                                          xii.      Certainly, corporate prayer for the evangelists could and perhaps should be the scope of what Paul means and it would not cut against what he commands.

                                                        xiii.      And although we haven’t gotten there yet – certainly reading Paul’s letter would be appropriate in a worship setting – since it is scripture.

                                                        xiv.      So, in a worship service it is entirely appropriate and, even, expected to have a time of fellowship and sharing of the mutual love we have in Christ.

                                                          xv.      Of course, a kiss in our culture is not always an expression of deep familial love. Indeed, a kiss could communicate a completely different and often inappropriate message today.

                                                        xvi.      But a handshake in our culture is not considered crossing any lines of appropriateness. And even hugging in mutually agreed upon contexts and manners is relatively innocuous.

                                                       xvii.      Still – the holy kiss is an excellent command of Paul that demands the church love each other like family, not just in words but in outward expressions of love – and what a wonderful thing for the Thessalonian church to be commanded. They have felt abandoned by friends and family. So, Paul encourages them to seek that level of intimacy among those who share the blood-bond in Christ.

                                                     xviii.      Paul is commanding them to find those connections among their fellow worshippers.  

c.       [Slide 11] 27 - I implore you by the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.

                                                               i.      The third and final command Paul leaves them with in the letter is that they have this letter read aloud to all the brothers.

                                                             ii.      This is, of course, meant for all the church.

                                                           iii.      Certainly, the Elders would have been the primary recipients of the letter and it is assumed that they would read it to all. But Paul makes it explicit.

                                                           iv.      Some commentators suggest that since the pronoun switches to I instead of we that Paul writes this in his own hand. However, nothing in the text suggests this. In fact, other places Paul does this, he actually calls it out that he is writing in his own hand.

                                                             v.      It could be him writing it – but we might never really know.

                                                           vi.      Paul may or may not have known his words were inspired by God at the time of his writing them. I don’t think he gives this command with the weight of “this is the Word of God – read it to everyone.”

                                                          vii.      But I do think that Paul very much wishes every single person in the church to know what he has written. Especially because the tone of the letter is so positive.

                                                        viii.      But also, because there are some groups of people, like the unemployed mooches, who need to hear his rebuke in a public worship setting.

                                                            ix.      Finally, Paul ends his letter with another bookend.

d.       [Slide 12] 28 - The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

                                                               i.      Paul began his letter praying that God gives them grace and peace.

                                                             ii.      And lo and behold, he ends his letter wishing them peace and grace.

                                                           iii.      Grace, according to Paul, is the heart beat, the lifeblood, the energy, the fuel that produces a Christian who grows in holiness and godly character.

                                                           iv.      In Philippians Paul says that God works in us to desire to do His will and to be able to do His will.

                                                             v.      That is a long way of saying that God’s grace is what makes it possible for us to work out our salvation.

                                                           vi.      There is no greater wish or hope you can express toward a believer, that God gives them grace.

                                                          vii.      We should eliminate the expressions “good luck, take care, take it easy” or any other trivial well wishes we give to Christians. Instead, we should say… “Grace to you” or “Grace and Peace” 

                                                        viii.      And with that – Paul concludes his first letter to the Thessalonians.

e.       [Slide 13] Summary of the Point: Certainly, the Lord’s faithfulness in completing us in holiness and blamelessness is all we truly need. But even Paul recognizes his need of fellow believers. Certainly, all of this includes The Lord. Who are we praying to for other believers? Who binds us so closely to one another? To whom has Paul consistently pointed in this letter? But there is an unmistakable and welcome element here of mutual Christian discipleship and care that the Lord has given His people.  As the writer of Hebrews says, we must spur one another to love and good works. So, we have flesh and blood around us, indwelled by God’s Spirit, who care for us and strive to help one another be holy and blameless. Therefore, since we all have one another, helping us to grow in holiness, we have no excuse. Let us grow in holiness… together.

 

Conclusion: So, what have we learned today CBC that refines our beliefs and orders our lifestyles?

 

Basics of Faith and Practice:

[Slide 14] As Paul closes out his first letter to the Thessalonians, in recognizing all that he has called them to do, he expresses a prayer, a benediction, seeking the God of peace… of wholeness to make them whole. This is the universal testimony of the New Testament for all those who are elect of God. God’s desire, and God’s plan for His people, is that they be glorified. That they be made completely whole in holiness and blamelessness. It isn’t just about sins we’ve committed… it is about being a people who are truly righteous. Christ has purchased this for us from a legal standpoint – but God is still making us into this and will complete that when Christ returns. In this, Paul tells us that we are not alone. The God who has called us to this… will do it. Why? Because He is faithful. He has also given us a community of people who are experiencing the exact same completing. And indeed, He has commanded the church to disciple each other and be His instrument to make each other whole. With the church around us, and God with us, that is all the confidence we truly need to step out and be different from the world and live a blameless and righteous life toward godliness.

 

But what does all this mean for us today? How then shall we live?

 

1.)    [Slide 15] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” We must affirm that God is faithful to complete the work He began in us.

a.       One major doctrine of the reformation that is still being discussed today is whether or not salvation is by faith alone or by works plus faith.

b.       Although it is somewhat unfair to say that Roman Catholic dogma teaches that salvation is faith plus works – when you boil it down, that is essentially what it is teaching.

c.       Some within the Roman Catholic church may disagree with that or bristle against it – but you don’t actually have to look far to prove the point. A simple reading of the council of trent will prove this out quite easily.

d.       The entire Roman Catholic system is really based on this idea that Christ provides an atonement for sin, but access to that atonement, that bank of merit, is given to those who perform outward works of righteousness.

e.       The discussion actually flows out of whether the bible teaches that at conversion we are made righteous or whether we are declared righteous.

f.        When we are converted are we put in a state of perfection and it is up to us to keep ourselves there, or are we declared to be perfect legally as God continues to make us more righteous?

g.       Today’s passage is one of many in the New Testament that puts quite a large stumbling block in the way of Roman Catholic teaching.

h.       I contend that you cannot read this text and come away thinking that all of God’s people are made righteous at conversion and must simply maintain that status by the way they live.

i.         Instead, what I think is clear in this text, is that God will eventually save all His people and perfect them. And it doesn’t depend on them doing anything at all.

j.         This conforms to the New Testament as a whole placing the entire redemption of His people squarely on the shoulders of God.

k.       Faith then, is the means by which God connects a person to the work of redemption that Christ completed in His obedience to the law and His death and resurrection.

l.         Faith unites us to the headship or representation of Christ. And preceding this faith is the call of God upon someone who lacks it. The effectual call of the Holy Spirit regenerates us and persuades and enables us to receive faith in Christ.

m.     Both the Roman Catholic and Protestant doctrines desire the same thing. They want people who live holy lives.

n.       But Roman Catholicism sees the living of a holy life in conjunction with faith, as means to salvation. The reformers stood on the scripture alone to assert that Christ alone saves us, and we access Him by grace, through faith. Living holy lives is what necessarily follows from someone who has received faith in Christ.

o.       All of this to say that doctrine matters.

p.       What you believe has necessary consequences to how you live.

q.       Believing that faith and works is what saves you leaves a person with little hope that they will actually be worthy enough to enter heaven… a place that only people who are perfect as God is perfect… will enter.

r.        I’m convinced that is how the doctrine of purgatory came about. It wasn’t until the 1200s that this teaching was formalized and I think it came about because people were convinced that they were doing quite a poor job at completing their faith with their works. So, they had to have a back up plan for people who did really well – but not good enough.

s.        In fact this passage flies directly in the face of the teaching of purgatory. Because Paul does not mention… in any way… that God will sanctify them at Christ’s return through pain and suffering. In fact, such a statement would have been completely deflating to people who were ALREADY suffering. How much suffering does God require to pay for our sins? He crushed His Son, allows us to be put through trials on earth and then we must also be purified in a place of torment? Is this really what the scriptures teach?

t.        I think not. Instead, the scriptures teach that Christ’s atonement is sufficient for all the sin of His people. Every single one. It covers all our sin. Not most. Not many. All.

u.       Believing that faith alone is what saves, leaves us with infinite hope that by Christ’s perfection we will inherit His Kingdom. But it also inspires us to pursue holiness since we know that since God called us and will surely make us holy at Christ’s return… we should pursue holiness now.

v.       If God gave you a vision that in 10 years you would be the best baker ever – wouldn’t that assurance give you the confidence to go and bake to the best of your ability?

w.     If God gave you a vision that the girl you liked would be your wife and that you would have many children and grandchildren and live a long and happy life together… would you then sit in your home and wait for her to come to you?

x.       NO! You would go to her and ask her out immediately!

y.       God is the one who calls. God is the one who justifies. God is the one who will complete us. And that spurs us to live in obedience to Him.

2.)    [Slide 16] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” We must affirm that the church is a community of people given by God to disciple one another toward holiness.

a.       So, we have seen that just because God will do something at Christ’s return doesn’t mean we can sit on our hands and wait for Him to do it.

b.       And certainly we understand that He will help us right now.

c.       But it still feels like we are alone sometimes.

d.       God has not left us alone though.

e.       In fact, the whole community of the church is given to us to spur one another to holiness.

f.        We exist to pray for, love, and teach each other to obey all that Christ commanded.

g.       We are truly not alone.

h.       And although God promising to perfect us and make us whole should be enough…

i.         We are weak. We often need flesh and blood to help us.

j.         And God has given His church, a community of beggars showing each other where they have found bread.

k.       No, we are not alone.   

l.         We are instruments in the Master’s hand, designed to help each other.

3.)    [Slide 17] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don’t naturally do or aren’t currently doing?” We must be holy and blameless.

a.       So since the God of wholeness will make us whole and since He uses His church to help each other live holy and blameless lives…

b.       No believer has an excuse for willfully sinning or conforming to the world.

c.       We all must kill sin in our lives and come out from the world and be separate from it.

d.       We must be odd. We must be different. We must be blameless and righteous.

e.       The helps we have been given by the faithful God of peace and His church only propel us toward this end.

f.        We must pursue living lives that are holy.

g.       From what we watch and wear all the way to what we cherish and value and everything in between. We should be different.

h.       If godless people are passionate about it – there is a good chance we should be fleeing it.

i.         If everyone is doing it – we should probably advocate that no one, does it.

j.         We must live our lives according to the revealed will of God found exclusively in His Word.

k.       We must be honest. We must value life. We must be content with what God has given us. We must be generous, even to those who hate us. We must pray for those who despise us. We must love and honor even those who desire our demise. We must be satisfied with our spouses and not long for lustful passions. We must work hard for God’s glory and not a paycheck. We must pursue peace – even with those who want to war with us. We must not strive to make a name for ourselves but for Christ and Christ alone. We must put His Kingdom above any other. We know we can’t serve God and money. We must fight for change first in our hearts and then in other believers and then finally in the world.

l.         My friends… do you understand?

m.     We must take everything this world values, filter it through the scripture and throw out everything that doesn’t make it through the sieve. Which I daresay would be most of it.

n.       Jesus has told us, Be holy as I am holy. Be blameless.

o.       Are you blameless? Probably not yet.

p.       There is more work to be done.

4.)    [Slide 18] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don’t naturally do or aren’t currently doing?” We must encourage one another toward holiness and blamelessness.

a.       This isn’t just something we do in our own lives. We must also strive to do this in one another.

b.       Through prayer, brotherly love, and teaching and preaching of the scriptures we must spur one another toward holiness and blamelessness.

c.       But this isn’t the American way.

d.       We just mind our own business, keep to ourselves, and everything is fine.

e.       Oh my friends – let this never be said of us at CBC.

f.        Your holiness is my business. And mine is yours.

g.       Your blamelessness is my business. And mine is yours.

h.       We ought to commit ourselves in service to one another, not to constantly find fault, but rather to patiently encourage and help each other to live lives pleasing to our King.

i.         That is what the church is for.

j.         We are surrounded by enemies. But so often the church eats its own.

k.       Now I’m not talking about ignoring doctrine to form some silly union that won’t last. The only thing that binds us together for any length of time… is sound doctrine.

l.         But let us focus on discipling each other. In love. In gentleness. In meekness.

5.)    [Slide 19] Comfort: “What comfort can we find here?” or “What peace does the Lord promise us in light of this passage of scripture?” If we are elect of God, the God of peace will make us whole at the return of Christ and will grow us toward that progressively until then.

a.       If I asked everyone to bow their heads and close their eyes and put their hands up if they felt like they were still broken, missing pieces, and not quite what God wanted them to be… I’d wager that almost every hand would shoot up.

b.       Indeed, any hand that wouldn’t go up… should.

c.       No one is perfect yet.

d.       There is one brand of Christianity today that believes that upon conversion you are perfected in Christ and that you no longer sin. This is a later development of a teaching that said that a Christian can grow into a state o perfection whereby they no longer sin. It is interesting to note that the founder of this belief readily admitted in his writings… all the way up to his death… that he never quite attained that next level of Christianity whereby he no longer sinned.

e.       Even those who would say that at salvation we no longer sin… take a very narrow view of sin indeed. The only thing they would count as sin are purposeful, intentional pursuit of sin. I think in that way, I would agree that Christians should not be people who pursue sin. However, I think we all can attest that it is still sin… even when we are ambushed and caught unawares and do unintentionally sin. David prayed that God would forgive… even the sins he did not know he committed.

f.        Oh we still sin. We hate it… but we do it still.

g.       And so a message today telling us to be holy and blameless can be quite disheartening.

h.       I’m sure the Thessalonians felt a bit downcast as Paul commends them but then tells them to keep going. They hadn’t gotten there yet. They hadn’t arrived.

i.         What a comfort to know… that the God who predestines us, the God who elected us before the foundation of the world, will complete us. He won’t leave us… unfinished.

j.         Wow.

k.       Take comfort Christian. The God who began this work in you will be faithful to complete it.

6.)    [Slide 20] Evangelism: “What about this text points us to Jesus Christ, the gospel, and how we are restored?” We are all broken, lost, and incomplete. Only the God of Peace can make you whole. Only the Prince of peace can reconcile you to God.

a.       This week, my girls all woke up at the same time. I got some coffee for Kadie, and we all sat in the bedroom and chatted about various things.

b.       At one point the conversation turned to the necessity of Christ paying for our sins. I pointed out that many people believe that they can earn God’s pleasure and peace with God by simply doing good things.

c.       We investigated that truth together. I asked them… what are sins against God? We arrived at the answer that all sin against God is rebellion. It is treason against God and His rule of His creation.

d.       When we lie, steal, have pride, or are mean to each other… these acts are directly opposed to God’s character and the order that God established in creation.

e.       Indeed, the scars of His ordering in creation continue to exist even in sinful men as we all have some semblance of what is right and wrong written on our hearts.

f.        After a quick explanation of what treason was, I asked them what they thought the penalty for committing treason against our nation should be. They said… death.

g.       Then I asked what it means to obey God. I quickly followed up with, Is obeying God extra credit or is it simply doing what He expects?

h.       They said – doing what He expects of us.

i.         So then I said… would it be right for God to forgive us of treason simply because we did many more things that He expected of us? They said no.

j.         I asked if I went before a judge and was convicted of murdering someone, and I plead with the judge to check my record and observe that I had given to the poor, was kind to my neighbor, paid my taxes, went to church, and read my bible… should the judge let me go even though I murdered someone?

k.       They said no.

l.         I said, this is why our good works will never be enough to please or appease God. God is a good judge. He will ALWAYS punish our sins.

m.     The only question…  my friends… is will you be the one punished or has another been punished for you?

n.       Only God can save you from the plight you are in. God has taken the punishment of the sins of His people and has laid them upon His Son. The Prince of peace purchased their reconciliation. The God of Peace… is the only One who can make you… whole.

o.       And He unites you to that atonement… by grace, through faith, in Christ.

p.       Has the Spirit called you today? Have your eyes been opened to the truth of the gospel?

q.       I beg you… Turn from your sin and believe on Jesus Christ. Follow Him and endeavor to obey all He has commanded. And God will start putting you back together again.

r.        Don’t leave today without letting someone know that you are now a believing one. 

 

[Slide 21 (end)] Let me close with a prayer by the Reformer John Calvin.

 

Almighty God, you fortified your servants the prophets with the invincible power of your Spirit. Now would you make us humble, knowing what they taught-that we may learn to willingly submit before you and so gladly receive and accept what you offer.

 

Sustain us by your hand so that we rely on your power and protection, so we may be equipped to fight the world and Satan. May we all, in whatever position or job we find ourselves, rest in your power. May we not hesitate to expose our very life to danger, whenever necessary. And with courage may we fight and persevere in our battles to the end.

 

Then, when we finish our course, we will ultimately come to that blessed rest which is reserved for us in heaven, through Christ our Lord. We pray this in His name… Amen.

 

Benediction:

May our God who has sworn by Himself

Upon whose oath you may depend

Who bears His own on eagle's wind;

May He strengthen you and help you,

May He uphold you with His righteous hand.

 

Until we meet again… Grace and Peace to you.]]></description>
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				<title><![CDATA[01 The Reasonableness of the Resurrection]]></title>
				<category>Podcast</category>
				<itunes:author><![CDATA[Christopher C. Freeman/John Tillotson]]></itunes:author>
				<itunes:subtitle><![CDATA[[Slide 1] John Tillotson

[Slide 2] Born 1630 to a Puritan Clothier

Graduated Cambridge in 1650 and was made a fellow of his college in 1651.

He identified himself with the Presbyterians until the Act of Uniformity in 1662.

He devoted himself t...]]></itunes:subtitle>
				<itunes:summary><![CDATA[[Slide 1] John Tillotson

[Slide 2] Born 1630 to a Puritan Clothier

Graduated Cambridge in 1650 and was made a fellow of his college in 1651.

He identified himself with the Presbyterians until the Act of Uniformity in 1662.

He devoted himself to the study of the patristic writers, especially Basil and John Chrysostom.

His preaching tended to be far more practical rather than theological as a result of his studies.

He earned his doctorate in Divinity in 1666.

In 1672 he became the dean of Canterbury.

Through various connections with Lady Russell and Princess Anne, he was made clerk of the closet to the king in 1689, showing the level of confidence both William and Mary had in him.

Soon after this he was elected as the Archbishop of Canterbury, but accepted the position with extreme reluctance and actually deferred his appointment to the position, at his request, until 1691 where it became official.

Shortly before his death he published four lectures on the Socinian controversy to make it clear that he had no sympathy for the Socinian heresy.

Ultimately it was his attempt to reform several abuses in the Church of England that led to a political movement known as the Jacobites pursuing him with insults and reproach until he died in November of 1694.

[Slide 3] We are not sure when this sermon was preached in his career, but it has often been preached on Easter Sundays throughout the last 300 years or so. You will notice his style as he attempts to show how reason is not an enemy to the Christian doctrines of the Resurrection.

I chose this sermon because it touches both the thinkers and philosophers among us and also has quite a practical punch at the very end. Truly something for everyone.

As much as possible I left the language and spelling the way it was in the original. I have only made small modifications for clarity.

[Slide 4 (blank)] So let me pray, and when I say amen every word that follows will be  Doctor John Tilloston’s from his sermon entitled The Reasonableness of a Resurrection.

 

 

[Slide 5] Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise the dead?—Acts 26:8.

The resurrection of the dead is one of the great articles of the Christian faith; and yet so it hath happened that this great article of our religion hath been made one of the chief objections against it. There is nothing that Christianity hath been more upbraided for withal, both by the heathens of old and by the infidels of later times, than the impossibility of this article; so that it is a matter of great consideration and consequence to vindicate our religion in this particular. But if the thing be evidently impossible, then it is highly unreasonable to propose it to the belief of mankind.

I know that some, more devout than wise, and who, it is to be hoped, mean better than they understand, make nothing of impossibilities in matters of faith, and would fain persuade us that the more impossible anything is, for that very reason it is the fitter to be believed; and that it is an argument of a poor and low faith to believe only things that are possible; but a generous and heroical faith will swallow contradictions with as much ease as reason assents to the plainest and most evident propositions. Tertullian, in the heat of his zeal and eloquence, upon this point of the death and resurrection of Christ, lets fall a very odd passage, and which must have many grains of allowance to make i...]]></itunes:summary>
				<description><![CDATA[[Slide 1] John Tillotson

[Slide 2] Born 1630 to a Puritan Clothier

Graduated Cambridge in 1650 and was made a fellow of his college in 1651.

He identified himself with the Presbyterians until the Act of Uniformity in 1662.

He devoted himself to the study of the patristic writers, especially Basil and John Chrysostom.

His preaching tended to be far more practical rather than theological as a result of his studies.

He earned his doctorate in Divinity in 1666.

In 1672 he became the dean of Canterbury.

Through various connections with Lady Russell and Princess Anne, he was made clerk of the closet to the king in 1689, showing the level of confidence both William and Mary had in him.

Soon after this he was elected as the Archbishop of Canterbury, but accepted the position with extreme reluctance and actually deferred his appointment to the position, at his request, until 1691 where it became official.

Shortly before his death he published four lectures on the Socinian controversy to make it clear that he had no sympathy for the Socinian heresy.

Ultimately it was his attempt to reform several abuses in the Church of England that led to a political movement known as the Jacobites pursuing him with insults and reproach until he died in November of 1694.

[Slide 3] We are not sure when this sermon was preached in his career, but it has often been preached on Easter Sundays throughout the last 300 years or so. You will notice his style as he attempts to show how reason is not an enemy to the Christian doctrines of the Resurrection.

I chose this sermon because it touches both the thinkers and philosophers among us and also has quite a practical punch at the very end. Truly something for everyone.

As much as possible I left the language and spelling the way it was in the original. I have only made small modifications for clarity.

[Slide 4 (blank)] So let me pray, and when I say amen every word that follows will be  Doctor John Tilloston’s from his sermon entitled The Reasonableness of a Resurrection.

 

 

[Slide 5] Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise the dead?—Acts 26:8.

The resurrection of the dead is one of the great articles of the Christian faith; and yet so it hath happened that this great article of our religion hath been made one of the chief objections against it. There is nothing that Christianity hath been more upbraided for withal, both by the heathens of old and by the infidels of later times, than the impossibility of this article; so that it is a matter of great consideration and consequence to vindicate our religion in this particular. But if the thing be evidently impossible, then it is highly unreasonable to propose it to the belief of mankind.

I know that some, more devout than wise, and who, it is to be hoped, mean better than they understand, make nothing of impossibilities in matters of faith, and would fain persuade us that the more impossible anything is, for that very reason it is the fitter to be believed; and that it is an argument of a poor and low faith to believe only things that are possible; but a generous and heroical faith will swallow contradictions with as much ease as reason assents to the plainest and most evident propositions. Tertullian, in the heat of his zeal and eloquence, upon this point of the death and resurrection of Christ, lets fall a very odd passage, and which must have many grains of allowance to make it tolerable: He said “it is therefore very credible, because it is foolish, and certain, because it is impossible. And it is necessary the Christian faith should be thus disgraced by the belief of impossibilities and contradictions.” I suppose he means that this article of the resurrection was not in itself the less credible because the heathen philosophers [objected] at it as a thing impossible and [contradictory], and endeavored to disgrace the Christian religion upon that account. For if he meant otherwise, that the thing was therefore credible because it was really and in itself foolish and impossible; this had been to recommend the Christian religion from the absurdity of the things to be believed; which would be a strange recommendation of any religion to the sober and reasonable part of mankind.

I know not what some men may find in themselves; but I must freely acknowledge that I could never yet attain to that bold and hardy degree of faith as to believe anything for this reason, because it was impossible: for this would be to believe a thing to be, because I am sure it can not be. So that I am very far from being of his mind, that wanted not only more difficulties, but even impossibilities in the Christian religion, to exercise his faith upon.

Leaving to the Church of Rome that foolhardiness of faith, to believe things to be true which at the same time their reason plainly tells them are impossible, I shall at this time endeavor to assert and vindicate this article of the resurrection from the pretended impossibility of it. And I hope, by God’s assistance, to make the possibility of the thing so plain as to leave no considerable scruple about it in any free and unprejudiced mind. And this I shall do from these words of St. Paul, which are part of the defense which he made for himself before Festus and Agrippa. the substance whereof is this, that he had lived a blameless and inoffensive life among the Jews, in whose religion he had been bred up; that he was of the strictest sect of that religion, a Pharisee, which, in opposition to the Sadducees, maintained the resurrection of the dead and a future state of rewards and punishments in another life; and that for the hope of this he was called in question, and accused by the Jews. “And now I stand here, and am judged, for the hope of the promise made unto the fathers; unto which promise our twelve scribes, instantly serving God, day and night, hope to come; for which hope’s sake, King Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews.” That is, he was accused for preaching that Jesus was risen from the dead, which is a particular instance of the general doctrine of the resurrection which was entertained by the greatest part of the Jews, and which to the natural reason of mankind ([even though] the heathen … were prejudiced against it), hath nothing in it that is incredible. And for this he appeals to his judges, Festus and Agrippa: “why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise the dead?”

Which words being a question without an answer, imply in them these two propositions:

[Slide 6] First, That it was thought by some a thing incredible that the dead should be raised. This is supposed in the question, as the foundation of it: for he who asks why a thing is so, supposeth it to be so.

Secondly, That this apprehension, that it is a thing incredible that God should raise the dead, is very unreasonable. For the question being left unanswered, implies its own answer, and is to be resolved into this affirmative, that there is no reason why they or any man else should think it a thing incredible that God should raise the dead.

I shall speak to these two propositions as briefly as I can; and then show what influence this doctrine of the resurrection ought to have upon our lives.

First, that it was thought by some a thing incredible that God should raise the dead. This St. Paul has reason to suppose, having from his own experience found men so averse from the entertaining of this doctrine. When he preached to the philosophers at Athens, and declared to them the resurrection of one Jesus from the dead, they were amazed at this new doctrine, and knew not what he meant by it. They said, “he seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods, because he preached unto them Jesus and the resurrection.” He had discoursed to them of the resurrection of one Jesus from the dead; but this business of the resurrection of one Jesus from the dead was a thing so remote from their apprehensions that they had no manner of conception of it; but understood him quite in another sense, as if he had declared to them two new deities, Jesus and Anastasis; as if he had brought a new god and a new goddess among them, Jesus and the Resurrection. And when he discoursed to them again more fully of this matter, it is said that, “when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, they mocked.” And at the twenty-fourth verse of this twenty-sixth chapter, when he spake of the resurrection, Festus told him he would hear him no further, and that he looked upon him as a man beside himself, whom much learning had made mad. Festus looked upon this business of the resurrection as the wild speculation of a crazy head. And indeed the heathens generally, even those who believed the immortality of the soul, and another state after this life, looked upon the resurrection of the body as a thing impossible. Pliny, I remember, reckons it among those things which are impossible, and which God himself can not do; and in the primitive times the heathen philosophers very much derided the Christians, upon account of this strange doctrine of the resurrection, looking always upon this article of their faith as a ridiculous and impossible assertion.

So easy it is for prejudice to blind the minds of men, and to represent everything to them which hath a great appearance of difficulty in it as impossible. But I shall endeavor to show that if the matter be thoroughly examined, there is no ground for any such apprehension.

I proceed therefore to the second proposition, namely, that this apprehension, that it is an incredible thing that God should raise the dead, is very unreasonable: “why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?” That is, there is no sufficient reason why any man should look upon the resurrection of the dead as a thing impossible to the power of God; the only reason why they thought it incredible being because they judged it impossible; so that nothing can be vainer than for men to pretend to believe the resurrection; and yet at the same time to grant it to be a thing in reason impossible, because no man can believe that which he thinks to be incredible; and the impossibility of a thing is the best reason any man can have to think a thing incredible. So that the meaning of St. Paul’s question is, “why should it be thought a thing impossible that God should raise the dead?”

To come then to the business: I shall endeavor to show that there is no sufficient reason why men should look upon the resurrection of the dead as a thing impossible to God. “Why should it be thought a thing incredible (that is, impossible) with you, that God should raise the dead?” which question implies in it these three things:

[Slide 7] 1. That it is above the power of nature to raise the dead.

2. But it is not above the power of God to raise the dead.

3. That God should be able to do this is by no means incredible to natural reason.

First. This question implies that it is above the power of nature to raise the dead; and therefore the apostle puts the question very cautiously, “why should it be thought incredible that God should raise the dead?” by which he seems to grant that it is impossible to any natural power to raise the dead; which is granted on all hands.

Secondly. But this question does plainly imply that it is not above the power of God to do this. Tho the raising of the dead to life be a thing above the power of nature, yet why should it be thought incredible that God, who is the author of nature, should be able to do this? and indeed the apostle’s putting the question in this manner takes away the main ground of the objection against the resurrection from the impossibility of the thing. For the main reason why it was looked upon as impossible was, because it was contrary to the course of nature that there should be any return from a perfect privation to a habit, and that a body perfectly dead should be restored to life again: but for all this no man that believes in a God who made the world, and this natural frame of things, but must think it very reasonable to believe that He can do things far above the power of anything that He hath made.

Thirdly. This question implies that it is not a thing incredible to natural reason that God should be able to raise the dead. I do not say that by natural light we can discover that God will raise the dead; for that, depending merely upon the will of God, can no otherwise be certainly known than by divine revelation: but that God can do this is not at all incredible to natural reason. And this is sufficiently implied in the question which St. Paul asks, in which he appeals to Festus and Agrippa, neither of them Christians, “why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise the dead?” And why should he appeal to them concerning the credibility of this matter if it be a thing incredible to natural reason?

That it is not, I shall first endeavor to prove, and then to answer the chief objections against the possibility of it.

And I prove it thus: it is not incredible to natural reason that God made the world, and all the creatures in it; that mankind is His offspring; and that He gives us life and breath, and all things. This was acknowledged and firmly believed by many of the heathens. And indeed, whoever believes that the being of God may be known by natural light, must grant that it may be known by the natural light of reason that God made the world; because one of the chief arguments of the being of God is taken from those visible effects of wisdom, and power, and goodness, which we see in the frame of the world. Now He that can do the greater can undoubtedly do the less; He that made all things of nothing, can much more raise a body out of dust; He who at first gave life to so many inanimate beings, can easily restore that which is dead to life again. It is an excellent saying of one of the Jewish rabbis: He who made that which was not, to be, can certainly make that which was once, to be again. This hath the force of a demonstration; for no man that believes that God hath done the one, can make any doubt but that He can, if He please, do the other.

This seems to be so very clear, that they must be strong objections indeed, that can render it incredible.

[Slide 8] There are but two that I know of, that are of any consideration, and I shall not be afraid to represent them to you with their utmost advantage; and they are these:

First, against the resurrection in general: it is pretended impossible, after the bodies of men are resolved into dust, to re-collect all the dispersed parts and bring them together, to be united into one body.

The second is leveled against a resurrection in some particular instances, and pretends it to be impossible in some cases only like when that which was the matter of one man’s body does afterward become the matter of another man’s body; in which case, say they, it is impossible that both these should, at the resurrection, each have his own body.

The difficulty of both these objections is perfectly avoided by those who hold that it is not necessary that our bodies at the resurrection should consist of the very same parts of matter that they did before. There being no such great difference between one parcel of dust and another; neither in respect of the power of God, which can easily command this parcel of dust as that to become a living body, and being united to a living soul to rise up and walk; so that the miracle of the resurrection will be all one in the main, whether our bodies be made of the very same matter they were before, or not; nor will there be any difference as to us; for whatever matter our bodies be made of, when they are once reunited to our souls, they will be then as much our own as if they had been made of the very same matter of which they consisted before. Besides that, the change which the resurrection will make in our bodies will be so great that we could not know them to be the same, tho they were so.

Now upon this supposition, which seems philosophical enough, the force of both these objections is wholly declined. But there is no need to fly to this refuge; and therefore I will take this article of the resurrection in the strictest sense for the raising of a body to life, consisting of the same individual matter that it did before; and in this sense, I think, it has generally been received by Christians, not without ground, from Scripture. I will only mention one text, which seems very strongly to imply it: “and the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and the grave delivered up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man according to his works.” Now why should the sea and the grave be said to deliver up their dead, if there were not a resurrection of the same body; for any dust formed into a living body and united to the soul, would serve the turn? We will therefore take it for granted that the very same body will be raised, and I doubt not, even in this sense, to vindicate the possibility of the resurrection from both these objections.

First, against the resurrection in general of the same body; it is pretended impossible, after the bodies of men are moldered into dust, and by infinite accidents have been scattered up and down the world, and have undergone a thousand changes, to re-collect and rally together the very same parts of which they consisted before. This the heathens used to object to the primitive Christians; for which reason they also used to burn the bodies of the martyrs, and to scatter their ashes in the air, to be blown about by the wind, in derision of their hopes of a resurrection.

I know not how strong malice might make this objection to appear; but surely in reason it is very weak; for it wholly depends upon a gross mistake of the nature of God and his providence, as if it did not extend to the smallest things; as if God did not know all things that He hath made, and had them not always in His view, and perfectly under His command; and as if it were a trouble and burden to infinite knowledge and power to understand and order the least things; whereas infinite knowledge and power can know and manage all things with as much ease as we can understand and order any one thing; so that this objection is grounded upon a low and false apprehension of the Divine nature, and is only fit for Epicurus and his herd, who fancied to themselves a sort of slothful and unthinking deities, whose happiness consisted in their laziness, and a privilege to do nothing.

[Slide 9] I proceed therefore to the second objection, which is more close and pressing; and this is leveled against the resurrection in some particular instances. I will mention but two, by which all the rest may be measured and answered.

One is, of those who are drowned in the sea, and their bodies eaten up by fishes, and turned into their nourishment: and those fishes perhaps eaten afterward by men, and converted into the substance of their bodies.

The other is of the cannibals; some of whom, as credible relations tell us, have lived wholly or chiefly on the flesh of men; and consequently the whole, or the greater part of the substance of their bodies is made of the bodies of other men. In these and the like cases, wherein one man’s body is supposed to be turned into the substance of another man’s body, how should both these at the resurrection each recover his own body? So that this objection is like that of the Sadducees to our Savior, concerning a woman that had seven husbands: they ask, “whose wife of the seven shall she be at the resurrection?” So here, when several have had the same body, whose shall it be at the resurrection? and how shall they be supplied that have it not?

This is the objection; and in order to the answering of it, I shall premise these two things:

[Slide 10] 1. That the body of man is not a constant and permanent thing, always continuing in the same state, and consisting of the same matter; but a successive thing, which is continually spending and continually renewing itself, every day losing something of the matter which it had before, and gaining new; so that most men have new bodies oftener than they have new clothes; only with this difference, that we change our clothes commonly at once, but our bodies by degrees.

And this is undeniably certain from experience. For so much as our bodies grow, so much new matter is added to them, over and beside the repairing of what is continually spent; and after a man come to his full growth, so much of his food as every day turns into nourishment, so much of his yesterday’s body is usually wasted, and carried off by insensible perspiration...

It is true indeed the more solid parts of the body, as the bones, do not change so often as the fluid and fleshy; but that they also do change is certain, because they grow, and whatever grows is nourished and spends, because otherwise it would not need to be repaired.

2. The body which a man hath at any time of his life is as much his own body as that which he hath at his death; so that if the very matter of his body which a man had at any time of his life be raised, it is as much his own and the same body as that which he had at his death, and commonly much more perfect; because they who die of lingering sickness or old age are usually mere skeletons when they die; so that there is no reason to suppose that the very matter of which our bodies consists at the time of our death shall be that which shall be raised, that being commonly the worst and most imperfect body of all the rest.

These two things being premised, the answer to this objection can not be difficult. For as to the more solid and firm parts of the body, as the skull and bones, it is not, I think, pretended that the cannibals eat them; and if they did, so much of the matter even of these solid parts wastes away in a few years, as being collected together would supply them many times over. And as for the fleshy and fluid parts, these are so very often changed and renewed that we can allow the cannibals to eat them all up, and to turn them all into nourishment, and yet no man need contend for want of a body of his own at the resurrection for he has any of those bodies which he had ten or twenty years before; which are every whit as good and as much his own as that which was eaten.

[Slide 11] Having thus shown that the resurrection is not a thing incredible to natural reason, I should now proceed to show the certainty of it from divine revelation. For as reason tells us it is not impossible, so the word of God hath assured us that it is certain. The texts of Scripture are so many and clear to this purpose, and so well known to all Christians, that I will produce none. I shall only tell you that as it is expressly revealed in the gospel, so our blest Savior, for the confirmation of our faith and the comfort and encouragement of our hope, hath given us the experiment of it in his own resurrection, which is “the earnest and first-fruits of ours.” So St. Paul tells us that “Christ is risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept.” And that Christ did really rise from the dead, we have as good evidence as for any ancient matter of fact which we do most firmly believe; and more and greater evidence than this the thing is not capable of; and because it is not, no reasonable man ought to require it.

Now what remains but to conclude this discourse with those practical inferences which our apostle makes from this doctrine of the resurrection; and I shall mention these two:

[Slide 12] The first for our support and comfort under the infirmities and miseries of this mortal life.

The second for the encouragement of obedience and a good life.

1. For our comfort and support under the infirmities and miseries of this mortal state. The consideration of the glorious change of our bodies at the resurrection of the just can not but be a great comfort to us, under all bodily pain and sufferings.

One of the greatest burdens of human nature is the frailty and infirmity of our bodies, the necessities they are frequently prest withal, the manifold diseases they are liable to, and the dangers and terrors of death, to which they are continually subject and enslaved. But the time is coming, if we be careful to prepare ourselves for it, when we shall be clothed with other kinds of bodies, free from all the miseries and inconveniences which flesh and blood is subject to. For “these vile bodies shall be changed, and fashioned like to the glorious body of the Son of God.” When our bodies shall be raised to a new life, they shall become incorruptible; “for this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality; and then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory.” When this last enemy is conquered, there shall be no “fleshly lusts” nor brutish passions “to fight against the soul; no law in our members to war against the laws of our minds”: no disease to torment us; no danger of death to amaze and terrify us. Then all the passions and appetites of our outward man shall be subject to the reason of our minds, and our bodies shall partake of the immortality of our souls. It is but a very little while that our spirits shall be crusht and clogged with these heavy and sluggish bodies; at the resurrection they shall be refined from all dregs of corruption, and become spiritual, and incorruptible, and glorious, and every way suited to the activity and perfection of a glorified soul and the “spirits of just men made perfect.”

2. For the encouragement of obedience and a good life. Let the belief of this great article of our faith have the same influence upon us which St. Paul tells it had upon him. “I have hope toward God that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust; and herein do I exercise myself always to have a conscience void of offense toward God and toward man.” The firm belief of a resurrection to another life should make every one of us very careful how we demean ourselves in this life, and afraid to do anything or to neglect anything that may defeat our hopes of a blest immortality, and expose us to the extreme and endless misery of body and soul in another life.

Particularly, it should be an argument to us, “to glorify God in our bodies and in our spirits”; and to use the members of the one and the faculties of the other as “instruments of righteousness unto holiness.” We should reverence ourselves, and take heed not only how we defile our souls by sinful passions, but how we dishonor our bodies by sensual and brutish lusts; since God hath designed so great an honor and happiness for both at the resurrection.

So often as we think of a blest resurrection to eternal life, and the happy consequences of it, the thought of so glorious a reward should make us diligent and unwearied in the service of so good a Master and so great a Prince, who can and will prefer us to infinitely greater honors than any that are to be had in this world. This inference the apostle makes from the doctrine of the resurrection. “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord; for as much as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”

Nay, we may begin this blest state while we are upon earth, by “setting our hearts and affections upon the things that are above, and having our conversation in heaven, from whence also we look for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile bodies, that they may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself.”

[Slide 13 (end)] “Now the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, the great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make us perfect in every good work to do his will, working in us always that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever. Amen.”[1]

 


[1] John Tillotson, “The Reasonableness of a Resurrection,” in The World’s Great Sermons: Hooker to South, ed. Grenville Kleiser, vol. 2 (New York; London: Funk & Wagnalls, 1908), 135–154.]]></description>
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				<title><![CDATA[18 I Thessalonians 5:16-22 Unconditional Trust]]></title>
				<category>Podcast</category>
				<itunes:author><![CDATA[Christopher C. Freeman]]></itunes:author>
				<itunes:subtitle><![CDATA[Title: Unconditional Trust

Text: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22

FCF: We often struggle trusting God unconditionally.

Prop: Because God’s will for us is to trust Him unconditionally, we must trust His leadings regardless of our circumstances.

 

Scr...]]></itunes:subtitle>
				<itunes:summary><![CDATA[Title: Unconditional Trust

Text: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22

FCF: We often struggle trusting God unconditionally.

Prop: Because God’s will for us is to trust Him unconditionally, we must trust His leadings regardless of our circumstances.

 

Scripture Intro: LSB

[Slide 1] Turn in your bible to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. In a moment we’ll read from the Legacy Standard Bible staring in verse 16. You can follow along in the pew bible or in whatever version you prefer.

 

As we’ve pointed out, and as our sign out front has said and the sides for this series have shown – the first letter to the Thessalonians is tied together by the three cardinal Christian virtues of faith, love, and hope.

 

In fact, we have seen Paul talk about all three of these virtues in various ways since the beginning of the book. And since he began chapter 4, he has analyzed faith, love, hope, then hope again, then back to love, and today he will get back one more time to their faith.

 

Thoroughout the letter he has spoken about their work of faith and how their faith was not shaken even though they were afflicted. He talked about how the word of God is at work in them because they believe and are continuing to believe. He did say that their faith needs to be completed but as it is, they already have a faith that is working since they know and trust God’s commands and walk in order to please Him. They do this because they know that setting aside His commands is not setting aside man’s traditions… but God Himself.

 

So today, Paul will do what he can to complete their faith. Paul will give them 8 more commands all designed to illustrate what trusting God, without condition, really looks like.

 

Please stand with me to give honor to and focus on the Word of God as it is read.

 

Invocation:

Faithful Father, You are worthy of our unconditional trust. You are all powerful. You are all knowing. You are all good. You are all loving. You are Holy. You are Just. You… are Sovereign. Because of who You are, we can and indeed we must trust You without reservation. But we are weak Lord. And our trust is feeble. We ask that You would use Your Word and Your Spirit’s power to show us today how we can trust You. Teach us Lord from this, Your holy word. We pray this in Jesus’, The Word’s name… Amen.

 

Transition:

[Slide 2]

“What is faith unless it is to believe what you do not see?” Augustine of Hippo

 

“Belief is not faith without evidence but commitment without reservation.” Leighton Ford

 

“Faith is an activity of the whole soul bringing into movement the intellect, the emotions, and the will, and anything less than this is not biblical faith.” Iain Inglis

 

[Slide 3] “Faith is a living, daring confidence in God’s grace. It is so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times.” Martin Luther

 

“Faith, to put it simply, is the conviction that God does not tell lies.” Frank Retief

 

“What is faith but obedience to the commands of Christ?” Salvianus

 

“Faith is reason at rest in God.” C.H. Spurgeon

 

“Faith is self-surrender to the great Physician leaving of our case in His hands. But it is also the taking of His prescriptions and the active following of His directions.” Augustus H. Strong

 

These thoughts summarize what we will see today in the text of scripture. Let’s look.

 

I.)                  God’s will for His people is to trust Him uncond...]]></itunes:summary>
				<description><![CDATA[Title: Unconditional Trust

Text: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22

FCF: We often struggle trusting God unconditionally.

Prop: Because God’s will for us is to trust Him unconditionally, we must trust His leadings regardless of our circumstances.

 

Scripture Intro: LSB

[Slide 1] Turn in your bible to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. In a moment we’ll read from the Legacy Standard Bible staring in verse 16. You can follow along in the pew bible or in whatever version you prefer.

 

As we’ve pointed out, and as our sign out front has said and the sides for this series have shown – the first letter to the Thessalonians is tied together by the three cardinal Christian virtues of faith, love, and hope.

 

In fact, we have seen Paul talk about all three of these virtues in various ways since the beginning of the book. And since he began chapter 4, he has analyzed faith, love, hope, then hope again, then back to love, and today he will get back one more time to their faith.

 

Thoroughout the letter he has spoken about their work of faith and how their faith was not shaken even though they were afflicted. He talked about how the word of God is at work in them because they believe and are continuing to believe. He did say that their faith needs to be completed but as it is, they already have a faith that is working since they know and trust God’s commands and walk in order to please Him. They do this because they know that setting aside His commands is not setting aside man’s traditions… but God Himself.

 

So today, Paul will do what he can to complete their faith. Paul will give them 8 more commands all designed to illustrate what trusting God, without condition, really looks like.

 

Please stand with me to give honor to and focus on the Word of God as it is read.

 

Invocation:

Faithful Father, You are worthy of our unconditional trust. You are all powerful. You are all knowing. You are all good. You are all loving. You are Holy. You are Just. You… are Sovereign. Because of who You are, we can and indeed we must trust You without reservation. But we are weak Lord. And our trust is feeble. We ask that You would use Your Word and Your Spirit’s power to show us today how we can trust You. Teach us Lord from this, Your holy word. We pray this in Jesus’, The Word’s name… Amen.

 

Transition:

[Slide 2]

“What is faith unless it is to believe what you do not see?” Augustine of Hippo

 

“Belief is not faith without evidence but commitment without reservation.” Leighton Ford

 

“Faith is an activity of the whole soul bringing into movement the intellect, the emotions, and the will, and anything less than this is not biblical faith.” Iain Inglis

 

[Slide 3] “Faith is a living, daring confidence in God’s grace. It is so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times.” Martin Luther

 

“Faith, to put it simply, is the conviction that God does not tell lies.” Frank Retief

 

“What is faith but obedience to the commands of Christ?” Salvianus

 

“Faith is reason at rest in God.” C.H. Spurgeon

 

“Faith is self-surrender to the great Physician leaving of our case in His hands. But it is also the taking of His prescriptions and the active following of His directions.” Augustus H. Strong

 

These thoughts summarize what we will see today in the text of scripture. Let’s look.

 

I.)                  God’s will for His people is to trust Him unconditionally, so we must always live in light of God’s sovereignty. (16-18)

a.       [Slide 4] 16 - Rejoice always;

                                                               i.      Paul begins this next set of exhortations with three commands using 7 Greek words.

                                                             ii.      The first two words, are rejoice always.

                                                           iii.      Paul exhorts his readers, who are experiencing affliction from unbelievers around them, to rejoice.

                                                           iv.      What does it mean to rejoice?

                                                             v.      The word rejoice comes from the word for joy. It means to be glad, to be joyful.

                                                           vi.      Joy is one of those words that looking outside the scriptures won’t actually help us understand it any better.

                                                          vii.      The Dictionary definition of the word is simply a feeling of great happiness or pleasure.

1.       But when we pull such a definition back into the text, it is difficult to imagine that Paul would be commanding the Thessalonians to govern their own feelings to the extent that they are greatly happy…always.

2.       Emotions are reactions and are rarely stable. For Paul to demand that people be emotionally, greatly happy all the time, seems a little farfetched.

3.       It further disconnects us from clear teachings that tell us to mourn for our brothers and sisters who are hurting, and the example of Christ who wept at the death of His friend Lazarus.

4.       Was Jesus greatly happy at this moment? Can you be happy and mourn at the same time?

                                                        viii.      But when we assess the greater context of the scriptures and note how biblical writers use the word joy, we come to a starkly different definition of the word entirely.

                                                            ix.      Biblical joy is gladness that transcends earthly circumstances, bad or good. To the extent that a believer can experience true joy even when they are unhappy.

                                                             x.      If I were to create a definition of my own based on the biblical data, it would be the following:

1.       [Slide 5] Biblical joy is gladness and contentment rooted in a pure trust in God’s sovereign hand to work all things for the good of the believer and His own glory.

2.       Joy then is not an emotion at all. Rather it is a state of being that is rooted in trusting what God has promised.

3.       Indeed, Paul lists joy as a fruit of the Spirit in the book of Galatians, indicating to us that joy actually comes from God and not from ourselves.

                                                            xi.      So having joy is part of our interior transformation as we are conformed to Christ.

                                                          xii.      When we insert this definition back into Paul’s command here, we see that he commands them to rejoice always because he is confident that they are the elect of God. He saw the gospel come to them in power and he has heard of their example and their enduring faith.

                                                        xiii.      Therefore, to expect them to be joyful in every circumstance, is to expect them to live as though they are a true believer.

                                                        xiv.      Which brings us to the inescapable, albeit uncomfortable conclusion…

                                                          xv.      Real Christians are expected to rejoice always.

                                                        xvi.      To the extent that if a person claims to be a Christian and has lost their joy… we can’t encourage them without also investigating whether or not they are true believers?

                                                       xvii.      Paul continues…

b.       [Slide 6] 17 - pray without ceasing;

                                                               i.      Though we translate this in three words, the Greek command is still only two.

                                                             ii.      We could translate it, “pray unceasingly” if we wanted to maintain the word count.

                                                           iii.      Just as joy is related to trusting God– so also is prayer.

                                                           iv.      Spending unending hours in prayer to a god you don’t believe is able to do what you ask of him or is not good enough to give you what is best for you – would be a foolish activity for anyone.

                                                             v.      Old Testament prophets poke fun at pagan worshippers sending prayer toward their dead gods who cannot of their own power or will give anything to those who worship them.

                                                           vi.      And so, we must pray in faith, believing that God is good and rewards those who diligently seek Him.

                                                          vii.      Many people know this verse. It is only 3 words after all.  

                                                        viii.      But I should point out that the word unceasingly can also be rendered incessantly or resolutely.

                                                            ix.      It is difficult to know whether Paul intends that they should be frequently praying or if they should be fervently praying, or both.

                                                             x.      Logic tells us that if we were constantly praying it may be difficult for us to accomplish much else.

                                                            xi.      But since I don’t think that is a real concern for many in this room – I cannot dismiss the likelihood that Paul does refer to frequency of prayer here.

                                                          xii.      Generally speaking, the more you trust someone, the more you speak to them. And with the God of the Universe – the more you trust Him, not only the more you pray, but even the content of your prayers encompasses every area of life. Not simply praying for big wants – but even praying to praise Him. To thank Him. To commune with Him.

                                                        xiii.      Therefore, I must conclude that both frequency and fervency are validated in the scriptures. We must be a people of prayer.

                                                        xiv.      But I would wager that this is, more than likely, a glaring deficiency in most of the people in this room today.

                                                          xv.      We ought to pray first and act second. But so often we act first… and most of the time our first action is to worry and fret. And then down the line…maybe… and occasionally we also pray.

                                                        xvi.      One more exhortation before Paul breaks to give us a doctrinal foundation for them…

c.       [Slide 7] 18 - in everything give thanks,

                                                               i.      Three words in Greek.

                                                             ii.      So, we must rejoice always, pray always, and certainly we must also always be giving thanks.

                                                           iii.      If faith is a cardinal Christian virtue, then thankfulness is a necessary outcome for all who have faith.

                                                           iv.      How can you believe all that is reported to us in the gospel and the scriptures, how can you believe all that God says about Himself and us in His Word, how could anyone truly trust God and not be thankful?

                                                             v.      Yet some of the most complaining, grumbling, dissatisfied people I know… go to churches every Sunday and call themselves Christians.

                                                           vi.      If we truly trust God – there is never a reason to be ungrateful. Why?

                                                          vii.      Because we are always NOT getting what we deserve! ALWAYS!

                                                        viii.      Therefore, not only must faith produce perpetual rejoicing and incessant prayer… it must also produce unconditional thanksgiving. That in all states we find ourselves in – we are thankful to God for His promises that all things work together for good to those who love Him.

                                                            ix.      Finally, Paul undergirds all these exhortations with truth…

d.       [Slide 8] for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

                                                               i.      Faith is not believing a list of facts.

                                                             ii.      Faith is trusting God so much that His will for you becomes reality.

                                                           iii.      God’s will for His people – those who truly believe – is to be a people who always rejoice, incessantly pray, and are giving thanks in all circumstances.

                                                           iv.      But notice that none of this would be possible if we were not… in Christ.

                                                             v.      How are we in Christ?

                                                           vi.      By Faith alone we are united to Christ.

                                                          vii.      If we believe, we work out our faith in fear and trembling knowing that God provides the will and the power to do what He desires of us.

e.       [Slide 9] Summary of the Point: Once again, we are forced to look at the broader context to find the doctrinal foundation upon which Paul places these three commands. He hasn’t left us rudderless though. He clearly states that God’s will for those in Christ Jesus are to do these three things. This certainly points to the fact that these Thessalonians are trusting God’s commands and desirous to do as He wills for them, which is nothing more than the working out of genuine saving faith. God’s will of course, is for His children to trust Him unconditionally. And Paul points out three commands that apply that truth in every situation we face in life. We must rejoice, pray, and give thanks, always. Our circumstances do not determine how we live… Because our God is the same regardless of our circumstances. Our faith is not placed on our circumstances… It is only in God and His Word. May God’s word be true and all else be a liar.

 

Transition:

[Slide 10 (blank)] But Paul is not done issuing commands. He has given three which consider what it means to trust God unconditionally in light of all of life’s circumstances. Paul will now follow up with 5 more commands, still considering how we must trust God unconditionally, but with a different emphasis. Let’s look.

 

II.)                God’s will for His people is to trust Him unconditionally, so we must believe and obey His instruction. (19-22)

a.       [Slide 11] 19 - Do not quench the Spirit;

                                                               i.      Immediately we are struck with a different formation of the commands given.

                                                             ii.      Not two words but four in the Greek. And one of them… is “not”.

                                                           iii.      So, this is not a command to do something, it is a command to not do something.

                                                           iv.      Some scholars insist that Paul is saying to stop doing this… but that force is not necessary here. We need not assume that this is happening in the Thessalonian church. It is possible – but it could just as easily be a warning ahead of this temptation.

                                                             v.      We also see a slight change in the nature of the command.

                                                           vi.      Paul is not pointing to characteristics or attributes that should be in a believer and how they should conduct themselves.

                                                          vii.      Now he seems to be pointing to something else entirely.

                                                        viii.      But the doctrinal underpinnings are still the same.

                                                            ix.      Because they are working out their faith – because they trust the Lord, because they are looking at His commands and doing them – which is what genuine faith is – there are at least two things that they must not do.

                                                             x.      First, they must not quench the Spirit.

                                                            xi.      Spirit here, because it is preceded by the article, seems to indicate that this is talking about the Third person of the Godhead.

                                                          xii.      If he were talking about the inner man, we might expect Paul to say do not quench your spirit. Instead, he says, the Spirit.

                                                        xiii.      To quench is literally to extinguish, to stifle, as if putting out a flame.

                                                        xiv.      But adding up the definitions of these words does not actually help us to arrive directly at what Paul means.

                                                          xv.      What does it mean to quench the Spirit?

                                                        xvi.      Let me tell you that scholars are quite divided over this.

                                                       xvii.      Unfortunately, we do not have the time to go into all of the options, so let me just tell you what I think quench the Spirit means and if you really want to know the other options, you can join us on Thursday night and we can discuss all the other available options.

1.       Quenching of the Spirit is the ignoring or refusing to listen to the Spirit’s leading.

a.       The Spirit primarily leads us through the Word of God.

b.       The Spirit also leads us through the wise counsel of other believers.

c.       The Spirit also leads us through providence and even our own desires.

2.       So, to stifle the Spirit would be to ignore or refuse His leading upon our lives.

3.       What are some of the things the Spirit does to lead or guide us?

a.       The Spirit illuminates the scriptures to us.  Which are able to make us wise and rebuke, reprove, correct, and instruct us in righteousness so that we are equipped for every good work.  (1 Cor 2:14; 2 Tim 3:15-17)

b.       The Spirit convicts us of sin. (John 16:8)

c.       The Spirit guides us to all truth and reminds us of what the Lord Jesus taught. (John 6:13)

d.       The Spirit also gave visions and leadings and directions to the apostles throughout the book of Acts.

4.       What are some examples of quenching the Spirit?

a.       Walking away from the study of the scripture and determining not to believe or do what the Spirit has clearly revealed.

b.       Ignoring counsel from various spiritually mature believers who are saying essentially the same thing – so that you can do what you want.

c.       Ignoring or refusing subtle impulses to do good and God honoring things.

d.       While it may be true that not all voices that whisper to you are God’s Spirit…

                                                                                                                                       i.      Certainly, a demon or your flesh would not advise you to share the gospel with someone on the side of the road, right?

                                                                                                                                     ii.      Certainly, a demon or your flesh would not advise you to help a widow or orphan in their distress, right?

                                                                                                                                   iii.      Certainly, a demon or your flesh is not whispering for you to drop everything and pray for someone, right?

e.       [Slide 12] We must listen closely and obey the Spirit’s leading in our lives. Again, this happens PRIMARILY through His illuminating the scriptures to us.

                                                     xviii.      A person who trusts God unconditionally will listen for and obey the leading and direction of the Spirit on their lives.

                                                        xix.      This command then, is generally pointing to the Spirit’s leading… but then Paul gets specific.

b.       [Slide 13] 20 - do not despise prophecies,

                                                               i.      This point then, is actually a subpoint of what it means not to quench the Spirit. Why?

                                                             ii.      One way that the Spirit clearly leads us is through the preached Word of God.

                                                           iii.      Before we go on to talk about what this means, we need to go down a rather large rabbit trail in order to address how another branch of Christendom misapplies this command.

                                                           iv.      Some in the charismatic movement have used this verse to legitimize and even push back against those who would be critical of their claim at having received new revelation from God.

                                                             v.      I think a fair treatment of this text actually does lend itself to their interpretation. Now before you throw tomatoes or burn me at the stake let me explain.

1.       Paul wrote this in the early AD 50s.

2.       The New Testament canon is not complete yet.

3.       In fact, the only books written up to this point are James and Galatians. That’s it.

4.       For the next 40 years, the New Testament will continue to be written by Paul himself along with Luke, Matthew, Mark, John, James, an unknown writer of Hebrews, Peter and Jude.

                                                           vi.      So, Paul telling the Thessalonians not to despise prophesies is absolutely telling them not to despise God’s Word coming in new revelation both concerning what has already been written and what has yet to come.

                                                          vii.      But there are two pieces of information that cut against the Charismatic’s claim that this verse should prevent people from despising their prophesies.

1.       First, the list of those who had yet to write their books in the New Testament, to which Paul is referring, is a rather elite list made up of either apostles or those who are intimately connected to the apostles.

a.       This boils down to how the church is apostolic.

b.       The Nicaean creed states that there is one holy catholic and apostolic church.

c.       As we’ve stated before, catholic simply means universal and is not actually referring to the denomination of Roman Catholicism.

d.       But some denominations believe that for this creed to be true there must be a succession of apostleship.

e.       Meaning that when one apostle dies, another must take their place.

f.        And the church must continue to submit to the teachings of that apostle as if they were teachings from Christ Himself.

g.       However, this view is wrong on every point.

h.       It is not true that the creed insists this be so, nor is it true that the scriptures teach that there is a succession of the apostleship, nor is it true that what the apostles taught ought to be unconditionally accepted as Jesus’ words.

                                                                                                                                       i.      The creed merely insists that the church is apostolic. Meaning it is formed upon the teachings of the apostles. This actually cuts against the succession of apostleship and new revelation since the creed implies that this teaching is already established and set by the time of the creed’s writing.

                                                                                                                                     ii.      As for apostolic succession, when Judas Iscariot was being replaced, there were some key qualifications that they looked for in his replacement. First, that they were a follower of Christ and second that they were able to bear witness to the risen Christ having seen Him after His resurrection.

1.       Some might say, “yes but Paul never saw the risen Christ except in a vision, and James and Barnabas were never commissioned by Jesus yet they inherited the title, apostle.”

2.       This is actually proving my point. What about Luke, Stephen, Apollos, Pricilla, Aquilla, Phillip, Mark, Timothy, Titus, or any number of other named and influential people in the New Testament that are NOT given the title apostle?

3.       And where do the scriptures indicate to us that Paul, James, and Barnabas replaced dead members of the original 12?

4.       The fact of the matter is – that the scriptures do not indicate that to us at all.

5.       Clearly apostleship was something only gifted to a select few for a specific purpose.

6.       Meaning what?

7.       There are no apostles today nor was it ever God’s intention to continue the apostolic office.

8.       There is no one alive that we must listen to as if the very words they spoke were directly from God.

9.       Instead, the bible becomes our final authority.

                                                        viii.      So that is the first item that the Charismatics must square with if they are to use this verse…

                                                            ix.      So, what does this command mean for us if we have no new revelation coming to us?

                                                             x.      Well, prophesy does not ONLY include the prediction of the future or new revelation.

                                                            xi.      All you have to do is go back to the Old Testament and read two or three of the minor prophets. Eventually you come to realize that they not only say similar things, but that most of what they are saying is referring back to what God has already said.  

                                                          xii.      So just like walking away from the study of the scriptures, ignoring what the Spirit revealed, would be quenching the Spirit so also walking out of a sermon dismantling everything that was said and ignoring or refusing to obey what is clearly from God… is despising prophesy.

                                                        xiii.      Those who truly trust the Lord listen to the Spirit and also those whom God has gifted and anointed to preach His Word.

                                                        xiv.      But I said before that there are two pieces of information that cut against the Charismatics’ claim, and that even the apostles did not expect people to unconditionally believe what they taught as Jesus’ words. Let me prove this by going to verse 21.

c.       [Slide 13] 21 - but examine all things;

                                                               i.      Even Paul himself did not expect unconditional trust in what he preached to everyone.

                                                             ii.      When the Bereans took what he said and sought the scriptures to test it – they were not rebuked for their action.

                                                           iii.      Indeed, in Galatians Paul concedes that even if he would come and teach a different gospel, that they should not listen to him.

                                                           iv.      So, the apostles did not lean on their own authority or revelation but only on what Christ had given.

                                                             v.      And to that end – all teaching and all leadings must be examined. They must be tested.

                                                           vi.      When you study the scriptures… do not lean on your own understanding.

                                                          vii.      Every week I test what I think the text says against what Christians have thought the text said for the last 2000 years. And you know what sometimes, even in this sermon… I had to alter what I think. Why? Because no one else thinks it.

                                                        viii.      This isn’t an echo chamber – this is preserving the doctrines that have been handed down to us from Christ to His apostles and now to us by God’s preserved Word.

                                                            ix.      We must strive to examine all teachings and leadings.

                                                             x.      And therefore, we are right to look suspiciously on those who claim to have a new Word from the Lord. Not just because we believe that doesn’t happen… but also because it is right to examine everything that is said.

                                                            xi.      Then what do we do with them?

d.       [Slide 14] hold fast to that which is good;

                                                               i.      If they are good teachings… if they conform to what Christ has said and what the whole of the scriptures reveal.

                                                             ii.      If the leadings are from the Spirit of God and directing us in paths of righteousness.

                                                           iii.      If the preacher expounds the text and reveals what God has clearly said…

                                                           iv.      Then we must hold fast to that which is good.

                                                             v.      We must cling tightly to what has been shown to be God’s Word and the Spirit’s clear leading.

                                                           vi.      But what if after examination, it doesn’t seem to be what God has revealed?

e.       [Slide 15] 22 - abstain from every form of evil.

                                                               i.      We must cast aside everything that is evil.

                                                             ii.      If it is not of God – then who else could it be from? It is either of Satan or of men.

                                                           iii.      If it is of Satan, then it is evil.

                                                           iv.      If it is of men, then it could be amoral… or it could be evil.

                                                             v.      So, if we determine that what is being whispered in our ear, or preached from the pulpit, is contradictory to what God has taught in the scriptures… we must abstain or keep away from, be distant from it.

                                                           vi.      Flee it.

                                                          vii.      Now some translations say “abstain from every appearance of evil.” This is one potential meaning for this word.

                                                        viii.      The implication would be that everything that even appears to be evil should be fled from.

                                                            ix.      Preachers have, for years, bound the consciences of Christians by the misuse of this verse.

                                                             x.      You shouldn’t have ear buds in because it might appear to others that you are listening to bad music. You must not go to the movie theater because it may appear that you are going to a trashy movie. You must not go into a bar or restaurant with a bar because it may appear that you are going to get drunk.

                                                            xi.      However, when we look at this in the context of this passage and the rest of the scriptures, we cannot allow this interpretation to stand.

1.       Paul is clearly talking about prophesies and not Christian lifestyles.

2.       So, if this word means appearances, a more accurate interpretation would be that when we cannot conclusively prove something is contradictory to God’s Word, but it seems off or new or something we’ve never heard before… we should keep away from it until it becomes clearer.

3.       This was essentially Gamaliel’s wise advice concerning the Jesus sect. He said to the Sanhedrin that if it is from men, it will die out but if it is from God they don’t want to be caught opposing it. So, he advocated releasing Peter and John and waiting to see what happens.

4.       When a teaching seems odd but does not directly contradict the scriptures – we should keep away from it and wait it out.

                                                          xii.      However, there is good reason to NOT interpret the word as “appearances” and rather as “kinds” or “forms” as most modern translations render it.

                                                        xiii.      In this Paul is teaching that when we find a teaching that contradicts what God has already said, and is therefore evil, we must abstain from it or keep away from it – regardless of what form that evil teaching takes.

                                                        xiv.      Even evil teaching that does not directly impact the gospel of Jesus Christ but still contradicts what God has said… must be abstained from or fled.

                                                          xv.      One example of this might be the teaching that Christians are not permitted to marry. They must remain celibate. This does not directly impact the gospel – but it is still a doctrine that must be rejected and fled from.

f.        [Slide 16] Summary of the Point: Paul strives to help the Thessalonians work out their faith by completing what is lacking in it. They must trust God unconditionally and to do that they must believe and obey His instruction. We too must obey God’s leadings and instructions through His Spirit. We must be sure not to stifle or despise what He teaches us and instead listen and obey. Certainly, we must test to make sure that these things are from God and if not, we must flee them. But all that is from God we must hear and heed. This is trusting God unconditionally.

 

Conclusion:

So CBC, what have we learned today that informs and corrects our beliefs and guides and shapes our lifestyles?

 

Basics of Faith and Practice:

[Slide 17] The Thessalonians have been elected by God and are working out their faith by knowing and trusting in God’s commands to the extent that they walk in them. Therefore, Paul gives them 8 exhortations here to help them continue to trust God unconditionally. The first three deal with how they should carry themselves in all of life’s circumstances. If they truly trust God unconditionally, they will always rejoice, they will incessantly pray, and they will continue to give thanks regardless of the circumstances. The next five commands reveal how they should trust God by hearing and heeding His instructions and leadings. They should not quench the Holy Spirit or despise prophesies but should examine all teachings and hold fast to that which is good and keep away from evil teachings in all forms.

 

But how do these exhortations press against us today? How can we apply this specifically to us?

 

1.)    [Slide 18] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” God’s will for His people is to trust Him unconditionally.

a.       Why was man created?

b.       Why did God choose to save some and unite them with His Son?

c.       The bible isn’t silent. Man in general was created to glorify God. And the elect of God are saved so that for all eternity we will glorify God for His grace.

d.       God is not only the creator, He is all powerful, He is all knowing, and He cannot be told no, His will cannot be thwarted. His decrees cannot be undone.

e.       What does that mean?

f.        God always gets what He has willed.

g.       This doesn’t mean that God never allows men to disobey Him. But it does mean that somehow man’s disobedience is actually part of God’s will for the world. It contributes to His ultimate plan for His creation.

h.       Why am I pointing out all these things?

i.         Mostly to show that it is absolutely foolish for anyone who claims to be God’s child, to doubt Him.

j.         God is wholly worthy of our absolute, explicit, and unconditional trust. What He has promised, He will do. What He has decreed, will be.

k.       Not one single molecule in all of creation is able to alter His decrees or His will.

l.         If you believe in this God, if you are united to Christ by faith – then nothing should be able to shake our trust in this God.

m.     But talk is cheap isn’t it. And trust is not just lip-service.

n.       What does unconditional trust in God mean for our lives?

2.)    [Slide 19] De-Exhortation: “What actions should we stop doing” or “What behaviors do we naturally practice that this passage tells us to stop doing?” We must stop allowing our circumstances to dictate how we live.

a.       Paul commands the Thessalonians to always rejoice, incessantly pray, and give thanks in all circumstances.

b.       In other words – what we are currently experiencing in life should have absolutely no bearing on how we respond. Why?

c.       Because we are not trusting in our circumstances going the way we want them to. We are trusting in a God who is in absolute control over all things, to the extent that even if everything around us is burning to the ground – we can rejoice, pray, and give thanks. Because God has not changed!

d.       But friends, people who call themselves Christians are often some of the most negative, joyless, anxious fearful, complaining, bunch of malcontents that you have ever met.

e.       God forbid this be true of us! Let it never be CBC!

f.        The first thing we must recognize regarding all of this, is that this is primarily a faith issue and NOT a behavioral issue.

g.       The sermon today is NOT telling you to buck up, say your prayers, and count your blessings.

h.       The sermon today is challenging you to get a better picture of the All powerful, all knowing, All good, all loving, Holy and Perfect God, who rules the whole of His creation, and who cannot be thwarted in anything He has determined to do, who cannot lie, and always keeps His promises.

i.         My friends – FAITH is the issue here.

j.         Why are you negative? Why are you joyless? Because you don’t trust God. That why.

k.       Why are you anxious? Why do you fear? Because you don’t trust God.

l.         Why do you complain? Why aren’t you content? Because you don’t trust God.

m.     Don’t go home and try to be more joyful, or set your alarms to pray every hour, or build a habit of giving thanks WITHOUT FIRST… reflecting on the character and nature of this Holy God we serve!

n.       For when you get a good look at who God is… I’d wager that joy, prayer, and thanksgiving will be all the more achievable to us. For how can we not trust this God unconditionally? How can we not rejoice, when this God has got us? How can we not pray, when this God invites us into His throne room? How can we not be thankful, when this God has promised our good in all things?

o.       But trusting God is not just about our lifestyles – it is about listening for His leading…

3.)    [Slide 20] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don’t naturally do or aren’t currently doing?” We must listen for God’s leading and instruction and obey it.

a.       Part of trusting God is hearing and heeding His direction upon our lives.

b.       Perhaps you’ve played the game where you and a partner work together to get through a maze. The catch? One of you is blindfolded, and the other is not.

c.       Listening to your partner’s commands comes down to trust. Do you trust them to lead you safely through the maze.

d.       Although a crude example, this is a picture of what it means to trust God unconditionally.

e.       He has given us His Spirit.

f.        His work, among other things, is to guide and lead us into the paths of righteousness. He reveals the truth to us and convicts us of sin. He leads us and directs us to wisdom helping us to know God’s will for our lives.

g.       We must let the Spirit burn in us. We must not douse Him by refusing to obey His leading.

h.       Instead, we must listen. We must heed what He shows us in God’s Word, or through wise counsel, or through promptings.

i.         But one other aspect of this is that we must listen and heed the preaching of the Word of God too. The Spirit of God speaks through the preached word of God. Not that all that preacher says is the Spirit speaking – but that the Spirit actively impresses upon believer’s hearts, God’s guidance and conviction through the preached Word.

j.         So love preaching that hurts. Love preaching that is faithful in expositing the Word of God. Love preaching that pokes and pushes, that destroys and builds up, that edifies and encourages, that spurs and leads.

k.       Of course we must test everything.

l.         And in order to truly test everything – we must be well-versed in the teachings of the scriptures. We must be catechized.

m.     But if it is from God – cling to it like oxygen.

n.       If not, flee it like the plague.

o.       But again, all this comes down to whether or not you trust the Lord.

p.       Trust in God means listening for His leading and following it.

q.       If you don’t… stop claiming you trust Him.

4.)    [Slide 21] Comfort: “What comfort can we find here?” or “What peace does the Lord promise us in light of this passage of scripture?” God’s Sovereignty is not just about salvation – it is the basis for our unconditional trust.

a.       I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again… the beauty of the doctrine of God’s absolute sovereignty is not actually in the doctrines of salvation.

b.       I certainly hold to that and if you don’t – you should keep searching the scriptures… because it is absolutely true.

c.       But the beauty of this doctrine is actually that is serves as the basis for our unconditional trust.

d.       If something can undo God’s promises or His will… then we can never really trust God.

e.       God promises that all things work together for our good – but if someone uses their free will to sin, and God has no control over their free will, and that person takes something from us… how could we ever imagine that this is for our good? How could God guarantee that it is for our good if He couldn’t stop them from doing it?

f.        But if God is in absolute control, even over the wills of men, and allowed this person to take something from us – we can still rest assured that God is working it out for our good.

g.       God’s sovereignty over everything is the only sure foundation we have to trust Him without condition.

h.       In fact, if God isn’t actually in control of everything – we probably shouldn’t trust Him unconditionally. Because He is making promises He cannot keep.

i.         But take comfort in the fact that God is in absolute control. And thus, all His promises to us – are certain.

5.)    [Slide 22] Evangelism: “What about this text points us to Jesus Christ, the gospel, and how we are restored?”  The world is confused by people who are always joyful, always praying, always thankful, and always living their life by an ancient book that still speaks to them. But maybe you’ve moved from confusion… to longing.

a.       Let me tell you the world is not always rejoicing. There is so much depression and despair in the world, and I don’t see it changing any time soon.

b.       We can’t accuse the world of always praying either. Oh sure someone will comment, thoughts and prayers, but the dirty little secret is that most of the time their thoughts and prayers, occurred right then in the message they sent you.

c.       No, the world is generally an anxious place. Last year alone the world collectively spent around 23 billion dollars on anxiety and depression treatments. 5 billion of that was in the United States alone.

d.       It is clear that rather than rejoicing or praying to a God who is faithful – the world prefers to live in depression, fear and worry and pay people money to try to get them out.

e.       And no the world is anything but a thankful place. Everyone is complaining about something. Everyone is discontent about something. No one is happy with what they have. They are always looking for one more dollar. One more car. One more job.

f.        But perhaps you know Christians who seem like they are always rejoicing. Instead of worrying and fretting they are always praying and trusting the God they pray to. Perhaps you know a Christian who, rather than always looking for what more they can get, they are always thankful and content with what they have.

g.       To most people – that is really strange. Most people see someone like that as… slightly off their rocker.

h.       But maybe you are starting to see that this is what trusting in the Living God does to people?

i.         And maybe… you want that too.

j.         I’d love to introduce you to our God who is worthy of unconditional trust. Talk to me, or to another Elder before you leave today.

 

Let me close with a Palm Sunday prayer by the church father Ephriam The Syrian.

 

Praise him who comes, and is to come! Hosanna to the Father's mighty Son, here and in the highest.

 

Praise him who once humbled himself in love to save our human race. Praise him for his Father's boundless grace!

 

Who would not stop to see and wonder at how low your love bent down? A donkey once carried you, here on the earth. You, in your might and holiness! And in your pity for us, you serve and bless our fallen race.

 

This day is joy-filled for all creation. My glad soul will sing a song of praise, and wave branches of thanksgiving that were once just palm branches, thrown in front of you by children.

 

Now we own your hidden majesty, and we cry with those children:

 

Hosanna to the Son of David!

 

And in the name of this Son of David, God’s people say… Amen!

 

Benediction:

May the Lord guide you always;

May you be like a well-watered garden,

Like a spring whose waters never fail.

When you cry for help, may the Lord always say,

'Here am I'

 

Until we meet again… go in peace.]]></description>
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				<title><![CDATA[02 The Lord's Supper at CBC Sermonette]]></title>
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				<itunes:author><![CDATA[Christopher C. Freeman]]></itunes:author>
				<itunes:subtitle><![CDATA[Sermon from Columbus Baptist Church's Podcast]]></itunes:subtitle>
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				<pubDate>Sun, 22 Mar 2026 10:45:00 +0000</pubDate>
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				<title><![CDATA[17 I Thessalonians 4:14-15 Loving the Difficult]]></title>
				<category>Podcast</category>
				<itunes:author><![CDATA[Christopher C. Freeman]]></itunes:author>
				<itunes:subtitle><![CDATA[Title: Loving the Difficult

Text: 1 Thessalonians 5:14-15

FCF: We often struggle serving in love those who are spiritually behind.

Prop: Because God’s will for His children is to be holy and abounding in love for one another, we must love the dif...]]></itunes:subtitle>
				<itunes:summary><![CDATA[Title: Loving the Difficult

Text: 1 Thessalonians 5:14-15

FCF: We often struggle serving in love those who are spiritually behind.

Prop: Because God’s will for His children is to be holy and abounding in love for one another, we must love the difficult.

 

Scripture Intro:

[Slide 1] Turn in your bible to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. In a moment we’ll read from the New English Translation which you can follow along in the pew bible or in whatever version you prefer.

 

Last week, Paul continued to show the Thessalonian church how they could be holy or distinct from the world. He makes the case that they should acknowledge and respect their Elders and live at peace with them and all believers. This is how they could show abounding love.

 

Paul will now continue on this theme of being holy and abounding in love for one another.

 

Please stand with me to give honor to and to focus on the Word of God as it is read.

 

Invocation:

Holy God, You are Love. Not simply that all that You do is loving… but that You, and all You do, are by definition, what love truly is. Your love is loyal. Your love is not fickle. It is not based on volatile emotions, but rather is a choice which You make of the counsel of Your will, to love unconditionally. But God – We are so unlovable at times. Nevertheless, You love us perfectly and faithfully. You command Your church to be like its head, Your Son, that we might love one another as Christ loved us. That is beyond us Lord. We can’t do that without Your grace. Help us to see this in the text of scripture today and to lean on You for the ability to obey what You have commanded. We pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

 

Transition:

[Slide 2] “There is no greater opportunity to influence our fellowman for Christ than to respond with love when we have been unmistakably wronged.” James Dobson

 

“You never so touch the ocean of God’s love as when you forgive and love your enemies.” Corrie Ten Boom

 

“Whatever else love is, it is not passive.” Frederick Sampson

 

“Love rolls up its sleeves” Robert Cook.

 

“Show your piety by your pity.” Thomas Watson

 

Let these words prepare your mind for the exposition of the text this morning.

 

I.)                  God’s will for His children is for them to be holy and abounding in their love for one another, so we must patiently love and serve languishing believers. (14)

a.       [Slide 3] 14 - And we urge you, brothers and sisters,

                                                               i.      Contrasted to Paul’s previous exhortation where he asked, Paul now calls them or exhorts them to do something else.

                                                             ii.      This is a much stronger expression than the word “ask.”

                                                           iii.      Paul is issuing a clear command.

                                                           iv.      This is most certainly related to the command to be at peace with one another, but what is clear is that peace goes beyond simply not fighting with others.

                                                             v.      We see a clear put off put on principle throughout this text.

                                                           vi.      Certainly, we must be at peace… but we must replace war with, not just the cessation of war, but the active care for other believe...]]></itunes:summary>
				<description><![CDATA[Title: Loving the Difficult

Text: 1 Thessalonians 5:14-15

FCF: We often struggle serving in love those who are spiritually behind.

Prop: Because God’s will for His children is to be holy and abounding in love for one another, we must love the difficult.

 

Scripture Intro:

[Slide 1] Turn in your bible to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. In a moment we’ll read from the New English Translation which you can follow along in the pew bible or in whatever version you prefer.

 

Last week, Paul continued to show the Thessalonian church how they could be holy or distinct from the world. He makes the case that they should acknowledge and respect their Elders and live at peace with them and all believers. This is how they could show abounding love.

 

Paul will now continue on this theme of being holy and abounding in love for one another.

 

Please stand with me to give honor to and to focus on the Word of God as it is read.

 

Invocation:

Holy God, You are Love. Not simply that all that You do is loving… but that You, and all You do, are by definition, what love truly is. Your love is loyal. Your love is not fickle. It is not based on volatile emotions, but rather is a choice which You make of the counsel of Your will, to love unconditionally. But God – We are so unlovable at times. Nevertheless, You love us perfectly and faithfully. You command Your church to be like its head, Your Son, that we might love one another as Christ loved us. That is beyond us Lord. We can’t do that without Your grace. Help us to see this in the text of scripture today and to lean on You for the ability to obey what You have commanded. We pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

 

Transition:

[Slide 2] “There is no greater opportunity to influence our fellowman for Christ than to respond with love when we have been unmistakably wronged.” James Dobson

 

“You never so touch the ocean of God’s love as when you forgive and love your enemies.” Corrie Ten Boom

 

“Whatever else love is, it is not passive.” Frederick Sampson

 

“Love rolls up its sleeves” Robert Cook.

 

“Show your piety by your pity.” Thomas Watson

 

Let these words prepare your mind for the exposition of the text this morning.

 

I.)                  God’s will for His children is for them to be holy and abounding in their love for one another, so we must patiently love and serve languishing believers. (14)

a.       [Slide 3] 14 - And we urge you, brothers and sisters,

                                                               i.      Contrasted to Paul’s previous exhortation where he asked, Paul now calls them or exhorts them to do something else.

                                                             ii.      This is a much stronger expression than the word “ask.”

                                                           iii.      Paul is issuing a clear command.

                                                           iv.      This is most certainly related to the command to be at peace with one another, but what is clear is that peace goes beyond simply not fighting with others.

                                                             v.      We see a clear put off put on principle throughout this text.

                                                           vi.      Certainly, we must be at peace… but we must replace war with, not just the cessation of war, but the active care for other believers.

                                                          vii.      And specifically, believers that are not flourishing.

                                                        viii.      Paul moves ahead to define how believers should treat 3 other groups of believers that are beginning to languish. And our response is different depending on each situation.

b.       [Slide 4] admonish the undisciplined,

                                                               i.      Here we see the same word that was listed as a character trait of those Paul wished to be acknowledged as Elders.

                                                             ii.      Admonish.

                                                           iii.      Again, the word means to exhort, to counsel, to correct, or to warn.

                                                           iv.      This shows that although Elders perform duties of care and concern for the body, it is not their job exclusively.

                                                             v.      All of the body of Christ is to admonish. And the whole body, is to admonish the undisciplined.

                                                           vi.      This word undisciplined is translated in a variety of ways in various modern translations.

                                                          vii.      From unruly, to disorderly, to lazy, idle, and disruptive.

                                                        viii.      Translations favoring idle, lazy, and disruptive understand Paul’s remark here to be about the group who are unemployed by choice and who are mooching off the church.

                                                            ix.      There is even one non-biblical source that uses this word to speak of those who are obstinately or rebelliously idle.

                                                             x.      But when we look at the word by itself, it is difficult to see that that is what Paul intends to say.

                                                            xi.      It may very well be what he means – but Paul frames it in such a way that this could be applied to anyone who is undisciplined.

                                                          xii.      Since we know that Paul will address this in 2 Thessalonians, perhaps Paul leaves this intentionally broad in order to cover as many that would fit into this category as he could.

                                                        xiii.      So, what does this word mean?

                                                        xiv.      Literally it means to be out of line or out of order.

                                                          xv.      It means anyone who is not conforming to the standards set by the evangelists.

                                                        xvi.      Anyone who is intentionally operating outside the directives of the church.

                                                       xvii.      Because this is directed toward someone who is not living in obedience, we can probably translate the word “admonish” with a stronger force…

                                                     xviii.      Something like… Warn or correct.

                                                        xix.      It is the whole church’s job to correct or warn members of the church body who are acting counter to what has been taught as godly and holy.

c.       [Slide 5] comfort the discouraged,

                                                               i.      Here we see a second way the church is to interact with another languishing Christian.

                                                             ii.      This indicates that there is not a one size-fits-all response to those who are languishing in the church.

                                                           iii.      The discouraged in our midst are those whose spirits are low.

                                                           iv.      They are suffering. They are hurting.

                                                             v.      Paul doesn’t spell this out, but we can infer that this could be financial, physical, or even emotional.

                                                           vi.      More than likely these are people suffering due to the affliction caused by unbelieving Thessalonians.

                                                          vii.      We ought not admonish those who are down. At least not at first.

                                                        viii.      There is a sinful discouragement. One that begins to deny the teachings of the scripture.

                                                            ix.      But we need not start there.

                                                             x.      In fact, that is probably what Paul means by comforting them.

                                                            xi.      How else can we comfort them than through prayer, the ministry of the word, and even putting feet to our prayers.

                                                          xii.      We must go to them and bind them up. Cheer them up. And get their feet back on solid ground.

                                                        xiii.      How?

                                                        xiv.      The Word of truth and acts of service and love.

d.       [Slide 6] help the weak,

                                                               i.      We might wonder what the difference between weak and discouraged might be.

                                                             ii.      While we might see weakness here as physical weakness, and that certainly is a class of people that we should help within the church, more than likely Paul intends a moral or spiritual weakness here.

                                                           iii.      In other words, they are spiritually vulnerable.

                                                           iv.      They are baby Christians, or they are in a place that their defenses are low and they are being tempted to either doubt their faith or succumb to temptation.

                                                             v.      The word help means to come alongside. It means to act as a crutch. To bear them up.

                                                           vi.      To help in this sense, is to become a partner for them to help them gain strength to overcome doubts and temptation.

                                                          vii.      This is, in essence, another way of saying what Paul commands in Galatians 6 when he tells believers to bear one another’s burdens.

                                                        viii.      We certainly don’t want to bring comfort to people who are weak against temptation. They are in danger. Comfort isn’t what they need. They need protection. They need spiritual strength and fortitude. They need vigilance.

e.       [Slide 7] be patient toward all.

                                                               i.      Paul points out a general response to all people.

                                                             ii.      All people require various degrees of patience at various times in life.

                                                           iii.      Not everyone is the same as you.

                                                           iv.      Not everyone will respond to circumstances as you do. And not everyone will bounce back the same way or in the same timing that you do.

                                                             v.      Paul cautions us against using ourselves as the standard of how to respond to people.

                                                           vi.      Instead, we should be even tempered in all circumstances and with all people.

                                                          vii.      In other words, the person in question and their circumstances do not determine in what temperament we respond. We live patiently with all, regardless of their circumstance.

                                                        viii.      Patience doesn’t imply passivity. Patience doesn’t imply inaction. Patience doesn’t imply tolerance.

                                                            ix.      Rather it deals with OUR temperament and treatment of people, regardless of what situation we are dealing with.

                                                             x.      So, when we admonish – we do so patiently.

                                                            xi.      We offer patient comfort.

                                                          xii.      And as we help, we help patiently.

                                                        xiii.      This is how we can abound in love toward those believers who are languishing.

f.        [Slide 8] Summary of the Point: In this text, it is clear that there are several applicational statements. Rather than doing an individual sermon point on each one, I find that they are grouped in two ways in these two verses. However, what we lack in this text – is a statement of truth. What doctrinal principle is forming the foundation of all these commands Paul makes? In order to find such a principle, we must leave verses 14-15 and go back to the end of chapter 3 and the beginning of chapter 4. At the end of chapter 3, Paul prays that God would cause them to abound in love for one another. At the beginning of chapter 4 he reveals that God’s will for the Thessalonians is to be holy. And this forms the doctrinal underpinnings of these commands. God desires they be holy in and abound in love toward one another. Paul gives three commands related to three groups of believers, all of whom are languishing in different ways. These commands summarize how someone can abound in Christian love and service toward those who are languishing. And he wraps it all in a neat bow by commanding that all of these responses be garnished with patience. They must, and we must, patiently admonish those who are unruly, comfort the discouraged, and help the weak.

 

 

Transition:

[Slide 9 (blank)] But languishing believers are not the only people who are difficult to love and serve. There is another group of people who are especially difficult to show love and to serve. And they are those who have sinned against us.

 

II.)                God’s will for His children is for them to be holy and abounding in love for one another, so we must love those who have sinned against us.  (15)

a.       [Slide 10] 15 - See that no one pays back evil for evil to anyone,

                                                               i.      Certainly, the law of reciprocity is found in the Old Testament.

                                                             ii.      Some laws indicated that there should be an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

                                                           iii.      These laws are found in the civil laws governing Israel, with judges and rulers abiding and presiding over these matters.

                                                           iv.      But, this statement by Paul does not negate the law of the Old Testament.

                                                             v.      The Civil government bears the sword and is given the authority by God to punish evil doers and protect the innocent.

                                                           vi.      Therefore, what is being discussed here is the prohibition of personal vengeance.  

                                                          vii.      It is not permitted within Christ’s church to seek your own justice.

                                                        viii.      In fact, it is the responsibility of the church as a whole that they do not become vengeful people seeking retribution on their own.

                                                            ix.      What should they do instead?

b.       [Slide 11] but always pursue what is good for one another

                                                               i.      Rather than a strict law of vengeance and retribution, there should be a desire to do what is best and pursue what is good for everyone.

                                                             ii.      When a believer sins against another believer, he should be rebuked. He should be called on to repent.

                                                           iii.      Why?

                                                           iv.      Because that is good for him to be called to repentance. It is good for the body of Christ to know that sin will be rebuked. It is good for those who saw the sin committed to see him called to repentance. It is good for the one he sinned against because they know that there will be justice and mercy distributed to him.

                                                             v.      But the one he sinned against should be commanded to forgive as well.

                                                           vi.      Why?

                                                          vii.      Because that is good for the them. It is good for the church to see the them pushed to forgive. It is good for the body to hold the them accountable to forgive. And it is good for the one who sinned, because it gives a clear light at the end of the tunnel, promising him freedom from what he has done against his brother.

                                                        viii.      In every situation, God’s people must pursue, they must hunt down what is good for each believer.

                                                            ix.      And not good by human standards. But good by God’s standards.

                                                             x.      But what if the evil is committed against us by those outside the church.

                                                            xi.      What then?

c.       [Slide 12] and for all.

                                                               i.      Pursuing good is not a concept restricted to fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

                                                             ii.      It should be easier with brothers and sisters in Christ.

                                                           iii.      But it is not restricted to them

                                                           iv.      The 1st century Jews had a different ethic. Although it was certainly wrong to lie to one another– they had no problem lying to gentiles.

                                                             v.      The Jewish mindset was to treat insiders with love and outsiders with contempt and suspicion.  

                                                           vi.      But in the church, this should not be the case.

                                                          vii.      God’s children are to love our enemies and pray for those who spitefully use us. Our love for other believers is greater of course. But our bottom-of-the-barrel response for the ungodly is still love.

                                                        viii.      Therefore, when outsiders do evil to us- we do not seek vengeance. We do not retaliate.

                                                            ix.      Instead, we pursue what is good for everyone. 

                                                             x.      This does not preclude a Christian from seeking justice from civil magistrates. If someone harms you or takes something from you, you can forgive them while seeking the civil magistrate to do their God-given job in bearing the sword.  

                                                            xi.      But even this should not be done as vengeance or retaliation, but rather as a pursuit of the sinner’s good and the good of all.  

d.       [Slide 13] Summary of the Point: So, Paul’s doctrinal basis remains the same. God’s will for His children is that they be holy in and abounding in their love for one another. Part of that love for one another is not allowing our brothers and sisters to seek vengeance for sins committed against them, either by other brothers or by unbelievers. Instead, we all must PURSUE or strive after God’s good for everyone. Which includes rebuke, forgiveness, and being at peace.

 

Conclusion:

So, what have we learned today CBC that corrects or instructs us in what to believe and how to live?

 

Basics of Faith and Practice:

[Slide 14] Borrowing key doctrinal principles from the entire letter, Paul insists that the Thessalonians must be a people who are holy, even in the way they love each other. That they would ABOUND in love. Then Paul gives us a list of people that are difficult to love, and how to go about loving them. He lists three groups of people who are languishing in their Christian walk. Those who are living out of sync with the rules of faith and conduct the church has received. Those who are discouraged and depressed. Those who are spiritually vulnerable. These people must be loved and served, not in the same way, but with the same temperament. Patiently admonishing the unruly, comforting the discouraged, and helping the weak. Finally, Paul explores those who are harming or abusing us by sinning against us.  We are to love these people by not allowing vengeance to be found in the church but rather that we pursue good for everyone… even if those who sinned against us are unbelievers.

 

So, what does this text mean for 21st century believers? Certainly we don’t have any issues with loving the difficult?

 

1.)    [Slide 15] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” We must affirm that we must be holy and abound in our love for those who are difficult.

a.       Without a doubt, loving the lovable is a far simpler and easily more pleasant than loving those who are… less than loveable.

b.       Paul presents to us two kinds of people in this passage that are particularly difficult to love.

c.       The first are Christians who are languishing in their walk.

d.       The second class of people who are difficult to love are those who have sinned against us or spiritually harmed us.

e.       This passage very clearly and quite specifically makes it plain to us that we as believers must be holy. We must be different.

f.        In other contexts, the bible makes it plain that unbelievers love their children. Unbelievers love their wives. Unbelievers care for others to a certain extent.

g.       You probably know unbelievers who are relatively kind and perform acts of charity and service to others.

h.       So being loving and kind to others is not what makes the church different in our love.

i.         Instead, the church is different both in who we love and how we love them.

j.         Christ’s church loves difficult people. And our love for difficult people is motivated by a pursuit of good and is clothed in patience.

k.       And our love for difficult people has the goal of moving them from being difficult… to being easy.

l.         In other words, the kind of love and service that is holy and abounding… is the kind of love and service that doesn’t accept people where they are – but desires to patiently move them from difficult to easy. From languishing to flourishing. From vengeful to forgiving.

m.     We too must see this as our goal.

2.)    [Slide 16] Refutation: “What lies must we cast down” or “What do we naturally believe, or have been taught to believe, that this passage shows is false?” We must deny that abounding love always looks the same for every person in the church.

a.       There is a popular book out today that speaks about the different languages of love and how we all communicate love or feel love communicated.

b.       The book is presented as a Christian work, but there isn’t much scriptural backing to it. It is mostly the work of Psychology. Still profitable, but I wouldn’t take it as bible truth.

c.       But one good thing the book presents is that love doesn’t always look the same to everyone.

d.       Paul makes it clear that when we apply ourselves to love difficult people it is not a one-size-fits-all approach.

e.       Difficult people need different kinds of interventions if we are to serve and love them.

f.        But two goals should be consistent with all people difficult or easy, believers or unbelievers. We should engage them with the temperament of patience and with the pursuit of God’s good.

g.       So, let’s dive a little deeper into the interventions Paul commands.

3.)    [Slide 17] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don’t naturally do or aren’t currently doing?” We must patiently admonish the unruly.

a.       Generally speaking people do not learn discipline by osmosis.

b.       You don’t go to bed one day undisciplined and wake up the next, disciplined.

c.       To be a disciplined person, either it must be built into you by another, or you must work at it yourself with consistency and without compromise.

d.       One way people remain undisciplined is in how they see the doctrinal beliefs of a church.

                                                               i.      Those who are constantly poking, picking, complaining, bucking, or otherwise resisting the doctrinal beliefs of a church, need to be warned and corrected.

                                                             ii.      This certainly goes for primary doctrines that are essential to the definition of Christianity. But even in a church where there are certain secondary doctrines that all have received… it is good to warn and correct those who continually stir up the body.

                                                           iii.      I think a prime example of that here at CBC might be a young earth literal 6 day creation.

                                                           iv.      I would consider this a secondary doctrine. It has implications on the gospel and the systematic teaching of the scriptures. But if someone rejected such a doctrine, they could certainly still be a believer.

                                                             v.      But in our church, I would say it is fairly unanimous, with perhaps a few outliers, that we all believe in a literal 6-day young earth creation.

                                                           vi.      That being said – if someone continually kept challenging that position, continually kept lobbying for our church to believe otherwise, continually spoke out about it, and continually challenged the established teachings of the church… they ought to be warned and they ought to be corrected.

                                                          vii.      Why?

                                                        viii.      Because they are being unruly.

e.       A person could also be unruly if they are constantly challenging the practice of the church.

                                                               i.      Those who are constantly complaining, picking, poking, bucking, or otherwise resisting the lifestyle practices of the church must be warned and corrected.

                                                             ii.      Certainly, this would apply to anything God has clearly listed as a sin.

                                                           iii.      A person who continues to get drunk, or forsake the assembling of the body for worship, or is pursuing a sexual relationship with someone who is not their spouse, or who lies, or any other permutation of clear sin – this person ought to be warned and corrected. And if they do not listen to this correction – they must be disciplined until they either repent or are excommunicated from the church.

                                                           iv.      But this could even apply to someone who is constantly rebelling against the vision, mission, and purpose of the church and the direction of the Elders.

                                                             v.      If the Elders have established clear biblical warrant for the direction we are headed, and the majority of the church shows their agreement by following our lead – you aren’t the hero when you continue to stand in the gap and fight the direction we are going. You aren’t Robin Hood.

                                                           vi.      When Peter stood up and said, NOT SO LORD, when Christ gave clear teaching that He would die… Jesus said get behind me Satan.

                                                          vii.      In a similar way, you must be warned and corrected.

f.        Anyone who sticks out, anyone who gets out of line… must be put back in.

g.       And we must do this patiently. We ought not be in a hurry to shove people back in line. We simply apply gentle pressure to nudge them until they either get back in or need to be shoved all the way out.

h.       Individuality in the church is not destroyed with the gospel of Jesus Christ… but we all ought to look a lot more alike than we do different.

i.         You know the old saying… “If you can’t spot the crazy person on the bus, its you.”

j.         I’ll modify it for you to fit the church. “If you think everyone else in the church is wrong… its actually you who is wrong.”

k.       Be humble, and get back in line.

l.         Let me use an extended illustration to explain the differences in how we love these three kind of languishing Christians.

                                                               i.      Imagine you are attending a marathon of a loved one. A child, a close friend, a spouse, that is running this long grueling race.

                                                             ii.      Now imagine, that as your loved one ran this race, you noticed that they began running the wrong way. They actually left the track and started drifting in the wrong direction from the finish line.

                                                           iii.      Would it be appropriate at this point to cry with them and weep for them and tell them they are doing great and to keep going? Would it be appropriate to run up to them and pull them up and run alongside them as you support their weight?

                                                           iv.      NO!

                                                             v.      What are you going to tell them?

                                                           vi.      You are going to yell at them, and assuming you do it patiently, you would do so without anger or malice… but you would still yell. What would you yell?

                                                          vii.      YOU’RE GOING THE WRONG WAY! GET BACK ON COURSE!

                                                        viii.      This is what is meant by admonishing the unruly. We must get them back on track.

4.)    [Slide 18] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don’t naturally do or aren’t currently doing?” We must patiently comfort the discouraged.

a.       But what about those who are spiritually discouraged.

b.       What about that those who have received affliction, persecution, or hard trials that have left them downcast and overcome with burden.

c.       Shall we admonish them too?

d.       At some point admonishment is the right response. But only when we can see that they are remaining in their discouragement because they doubt the Lord and His promises. In that case they actually move from discouraged… to unruly.

e.       While they remain, simply beat down and despairing… what do they need?

f.        They need comfort. They need encouragement.

g.       Comfort and encouragement necessarily produce empathy and action.

h.       We empathize with their pain. We are commanded actually to weep with those who weep, to mourn with those who mourn.

i.         Empathy is still a good term. Some in our circles attack the idea of empathy because they argue that it does not require or produce change in the person who is hurting. And they do have a point.

j.         But rather than casting aside empathy. I think we can keep that word, so long as we understand that true comfort and encouragement do not actually come simply because we empathized with the person who was discouraged.

k.       True comfort and encouragement come when we do this and then take additional action.

l.         When we give them the promises of God. When we meet their needs. When we meet with them and pray for them. And when we help them NOT be discouraged.

m.     Our goal is not for them to remain there. And that requires us to do more than merely weep with them. We must EN-courage them so they are no longer DIS-couraged. 

n.       And we must do this patiently. It may take some time. Job’s friends sat with him for 7 days before they uttered one word. They are not rebuked for this. We could learn something from that I think.

                                                               i.      Going back to our illustration of the marathon, let’s say your loved one is on course and running the correct way… but they are crying. It looks as though they are unhappy with their performance thus far and quite upset that they are not further along.

                                                             ii.      Would it be appropriate to yell at them and tell them to get back on track or to run faster (as if they hadn’t thought of that already)?

                                                           iii.      Would it be appropriate to run out to them and saddle up under their arm to try to run with them three-legged race style – even though you haven’t trained for this marathon?

                                                           iv.      NO!

                                                             v.      What would you do?

                                                           vi.      Of course, you would cheer for them and encourage them to keep going. To look to the prize at the end. To keep fighting!

o.       This is what we must do with believers who are discouraged. We must cheer them on and encourage them to keep going and striving for the prize of Jesus Christ.

5.)    [Slide 19] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don’t naturally do or aren’t currently doing?” We must patiently help the spiritually weak.

a.       Sometimes believers are overcome with doubt or temptation.

b.       In doubt and temptation there is no sin – meaning there is no reason to admonish someone who is doubting their faith or struggling with temptation.

c.       But we also cannot afford to comfort and encourage people who are struggling with doubt and temptation. They don’t need someone to weep with them as though there is nothing that can be done.

d.       They don’t need someone to encourage them to keep going.

e.       They’d love nothing more than to keep going. But something has attacked them. Something has assaulted them. They are oppressed by circumstances or spiritual forces. And it has rendered them spiritually weak.

f.        What must we do then?

g.       We must protect them. We must come alongside and help them. We need to assure them of the promises and truth of God’s Word and we need to hold them accountable and help them wage the war against temptation.

h.       And we must do this patiently, because it may take some time before they are able to stand on their own two feet again and wage the war themselves.

i.         But make no mistake – THAT IS OUR GOAL!

j.         We don’t offer perpetual accountability. We offer patient accountability. Eventually believers must be strong enough to dismiss doubt and battle temptation on their own. Not because the church won’t be there to help – but because we are all commanded to do this individually. We individually are commanded to submit to God, to resist the devil, to put on the full armor of God.

k.       So that is the goal of our help to the weak. That they might become… strong.

l.         Let’s go back again our illustration of your loved one running a marathon.

                                                               i.      Now imagine they come around a bend… and you notice that they are crawling on the ground.

                                                             ii.      Something has clearly happened to their leg. They have fallen and they have not been able to get up. Their only option is to continue to crawl along toward the finish.

                                                           iii.      Would it be appropriate for you to yell at them and tell them to stand up and get back on track?

                                                           iv.      Would it be appropriate for you to cheer for them and tell them they are doing great and to keep going?

                                                             v.      NO!

                                                           vi.      You would go to them and lift them up to their feet. You would help them bear some of the burden of their weight until they are able to do it themselves.

m.     This is what we must do with believers who are spiritually weak. We must bear them up and protect them from all perils as they renew their strength. We must meet their doubts with the Word of truth. We must meet their temptations with the promises and assurance of God for His grace to help in a time of need.

n.       And we must patiently provide these things until they are strong enough to do this on their own.

6.)    [Slide 20] De-Exhortation: “What actions should we stop doing” or “What behaviors do we naturally practice that this passage tells us to stop doing?” We must not allow brothers and sisters to seek revenge.

a.       Oh my friends, we must be sure to hear this one.

b.       We have all heard the horror stories of churches that have become cesspools of infighting and factions.

c.       We have all seen the destruction that cliques, and power grabs, and allegiances, and loyalties, can have on a congregation.

d.       Rooted in all of them is the vengeful hearts of those who aren’t getting what they want.

e.       They’ve been hurt so they lash out.

f.        Oh they will certainly do so with pious words. They might complain of church hurt, or grave spiritual harm, or disappointment, or some other pious sounding expression which is really just their attempt to demonize the actions of another person and purify their own actions in the eyes of others.

g.       But hear me now. These words betray a heart that is unwilling to let love cover sin and is unwilling to forgive.

h.       And it must not be named among us CBC.

i.         If someone harms you. If I harm you. If an Elder harms you. If another believer harms you. If you are sinned against…

j.         Do not seek vengeance in any form.

k.       Don’t attack their character. Don’t treat them as the enemy. Don’t do all that is in your power to draw attention to how you were harmed and how difficult it has been for you since being harmed.

l.         Chuck all that out the window.

m.     Why?

n.       Because love covers a multitude of sins. And forgiveness is not optional for God’s people.

o.       But what if it must be addressed? What if it cannot be dismissed?

7.)    [Slide 21] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don’t naturally do or aren’t currently doing?” We must all pursue good for all. 

a.       If they truly sinned against you, and it must be addressed, you must do so humbly, meekly, and for THEIR benefit and for the BENEFIT of the whole church.

b.       “Well, it would benefit the whole church if we just ran them out of here”

c.       NO! That is vengeance. And it will not be who we are CBC.

d.       We must restore. We must heal. We must love.

e.       “But if we truly love them, we’ll let them go.”

f.        You’ve probably heard that one before…

g.       Lies of the devil is what that is.

h.       There is no letting them go. There is no writing them out of your life. There is no “dead to me” status as a Christian.

i.         If they are believers – you must love them like Christ loved you. And if they are not Christians then you must love them like you love yourself.

j.         Don’t succumb to vengeance.

k.       Instead, we must PURSUE good.

l.         It is not easy and it is not natural. That is why it must be… pursued.

m.     We will need to chase it. Patiently. Because they might not be repentant at first. They might try to defend themselves. They might try to excuse their actions.

n.       Then we can seek vengeance?

o.       NO!

p.       Then we pursue God’s good for EVERYONE.

q.       Why must we do this?

r.        Let’s go back to our marathon illustration one last time.

                                                               i.      Imagine your loved one comes around the bend with a person that is on their racing team.

                                                             ii.      In the process of coming around the bend you see their teammate elbow them to get in front of them.

                                                           iii.      To your horror both of them stop running the race and start throwing punches at each other.

                                                           iv.      What do you do?

                                                             v.      You stop them both from punching each other.

                                                           vi.      You rebuke the one who elbowed your friend. You rebuke your friend for throwing back.

                                                          vii.      You tell them to focus on the race and be on the same team.

s.        This is what we do in situations where people sin against us. There is something bigger going on than what was done to you. The mission of the church and the Christian walk is far more important that whatever was done to you.

t.        So repent, forgive, and get back to the mission.

8.)    [Slide 22] Comfort: “What comfort can we find here?” or “What peace does the Lord promise us in light of this passage of scripture?” Difficult people are not immediately cast out of the body of Christ.

a.       My friends, do you know why this is so comforting?

b.       Because if it wasn’t true… the church would be an empty place.

c.       Instead, we see God’s plan to love and restore difficult people to flourishing believers. We see God’s plan to prevent infighting and distraction from the mission of the church.

d.       God knows us. He knows how petty and weak we are.

e.       So, He has given a church which is commanded and graced to be holy and abound in love for one another.

f.        What a blessing! What a blessing that when you are unruly someone is going to patiently rebuke you.

g.       What a blessing that when you are downcast and overwhelmed, someone is going to comfort and encourage you.

h.       What a blessing that when you are spiritually weak, someone is going to be your crutch and help you get through it.

i.         What a blessing that when you are sinned against, no one is going to let you seek vengeance.

j.         What a blessing that when you sin against others, you are going to be called on to repent.

k.       The church and the commands God gives it, are truly a blessing to us all.

9.)    [Slide 23] Evangelism: “What about this text points us to Jesus Christ, the gospel, and how we are restored?” The love of Christ compels His people to treat difficult people with patience and love that neither tolerates their sin, nor leaves them in their despair or weakness. This love is completely foreign to anything the world knows.

a.       Our culture has a definition problem with the word love.

b.       People define love as tolerance and acceptance.

c.       But that isn’t how God defines love. And that isn’t how Jesus demonstrated love.

d.       The Love of Christ compels the church to patiently love difficult believers and unbelievers, without tolerating or approving of sin and without leaving them in despair or weakness.

e.       This kind of love is completely foreign to the world. And it is one of the reasons that the church is so odd and so peculiar.

f.        But it isn’t because we are especially good people.

g.       It is because the gospel is especially powerful and our God is especially gracious. He has changed us. He now compels us.

h.       If you want to know this kind of love, both toward you and from you, you must be born again. You must be born of the Spirit. You must be given grace by God. And perhaps that is happening right now.

i.         Perhaps you are hearing the gospel message and something is stirring in you. Like you are alive… for the very first time.

j.         Is God drawing you to Himself?

k.       Then repent and believe on and submit to Christ.

l.         If you desire this today, please see an Elder before you leave.

 

[Slide 24 (end) Let me close with a prayer from the Puritan Philip Doderidge.

 

O Lord, let your grace and your love do for us what fear of your terrors alone cannot.

 

Melt our hearts by that nobler principle, and teach us to despise everything that would displease you.

 

Let our hearts respond with the same kind of compassion that motivated you, Jesus, to serve the poor.

 

And whenever we do make mistakes, let us err on the side of compassion—a love that would never harm the worst sinner-much less the least and weakest of God's servants.

 

We consecrate our lives to you, Lord, even to death. We will not then feel the bitterness of death half so much, when our hearts are ablaze with a zeal for your glory.

 

We pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

 

Benediction:

May our Lord who has laid up for you a hope in heaven where moth and rust cannot destroy,

Keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Until we meet again, go in peace.]]></description>
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				<title><![CDATA[16 I Thessalonians 5:12-13 Acknowledged and Regarded]]></title>
				<category>Podcast</category>
				<itunes:author><![CDATA[Christopher C. Freeman]]></itunes:author>
				<itunes:subtitle><![CDATA[Title: Acknowledged and Regarded

Text: 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13

FCF: We often struggle honoring those who are leaders over us.

Prop: Because God has appointed and equipped leaders for His church, we must receive, honor, and live peacefully with th...]]></itunes:subtitle>
				<itunes:summary><![CDATA[Title: Acknowledged and Regarded

Text: 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13

FCF: We often struggle honoring those who are leaders over us.

Prop: Because God has appointed and equipped leaders for His church, we must receive, honor, and live peacefully with those whom the Lord has given.

 

Scripture Intro: NET

[Slide 1] Turn in your bible to 1 Thessalonians 5. In a moment we’ll read from the New English Translation starting in verse 12. You can follow along in the pew bible or in whatever version you prefer.

 

We have observed how 1 Thessalonians is a rather unified letter. Far from a hastily written email, Paul’s letter under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is a masterful work weaving together major themes to bring comfort, hope, and direction to a fledgling church in the city of Thessalonica.

 

The letter itself is incredibly positive as Paul cheers them on to keep growing in their faith. From early in the letter, Paul commended the Thessalonians for working out of their faith, their labor in love, and their enduring hope in the coming of Christ.

 

But despite having these cardinal Christian virtues, Paul still says that he needs to complete what is lacking in their faith, and prays that the Lord would cause their love to abound for each other and to strengthen them in holiness so they can be ready and full of hope or the Lord’s return.

 

[Slide 2] Far from being a throw away comment or empty compliment, the possession of and growth of these cardinal Christian virtues takes center stage in the letter. And our most recent contexts we’ve considered are certainly part of that.

 

To address what is lacking in their faith and urge them forward to work out their faith, Paul explains their need to be holy in regard to living out a godly sexual ethic.

 

To address their labor in love and encourage it to abound for each other, Paul instructs them to live a quiet life, mind their business, work with their hands so that they have a good reputation with outsiders and are not in need. This will produce a church that is truly Holy in love.

 

To address their holiness and hopefulness for the Lord Jesus’ return, Paul assuages two of their fears by informing them that dead Christians will be snatched up with the living and we are not appointed for wrath but for salvation through Jesus’s atonement for His elect.

 

So, in chapter 4 and 5 so far, we see Paul address faith, then love, then hope, then hope again.  So as we move forward Paul will now move to address love, then faith again before the letter closes.

 

So, what does Paul have to say today that expands the idea of their labor of love abounding toward one another? Let’s look.

 

Please stand with me to give honor to and focus on the Word of God as it is read.

 

Invocation:

All Wise Father, Creator and Sustainer, we praise You for Your Son who is the Lord of all and the Head of the Church. He is the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, and He is The Great Shepherd. We thank You for His work to redeem a people unto Himself and we thank You for Your Spirit who has indwelled those people to guide them to all truth and progressively conform them to the image of Your dear Son. We thank You God for Your provision to the church that You have given gifts to the church in the form of leaders who are godly men serving You in Your strength and power, under the authority and in submission to Your Son. We ask that we would love those whom...]]></itunes:summary>
				<description><![CDATA[Title: Acknowledged and Regarded

Text: 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13

FCF: We often struggle honoring those who are leaders over us.

Prop: Because God has appointed and equipped leaders for His church, we must receive, honor, and live peacefully with those whom the Lord has given.

 

Scripture Intro: NET

[Slide 1] Turn in your bible to 1 Thessalonians 5. In a moment we’ll read from the New English Translation starting in verse 12. You can follow along in the pew bible or in whatever version you prefer.

 

We have observed how 1 Thessalonians is a rather unified letter. Far from a hastily written email, Paul’s letter under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is a masterful work weaving together major themes to bring comfort, hope, and direction to a fledgling church in the city of Thessalonica.

 

The letter itself is incredibly positive as Paul cheers them on to keep growing in their faith. From early in the letter, Paul commended the Thessalonians for working out of their faith, their labor in love, and their enduring hope in the coming of Christ.

 

But despite having these cardinal Christian virtues, Paul still says that he needs to complete what is lacking in their faith, and prays that the Lord would cause their love to abound for each other and to strengthen them in holiness so they can be ready and full of hope or the Lord’s return.

 

[Slide 2] Far from being a throw away comment or empty compliment, the possession of and growth of these cardinal Christian virtues takes center stage in the letter. And our most recent contexts we’ve considered are certainly part of that.

 

To address what is lacking in their faith and urge them forward to work out their faith, Paul explains their need to be holy in regard to living out a godly sexual ethic.

 

To address their labor in love and encourage it to abound for each other, Paul instructs them to live a quiet life, mind their business, work with their hands so that they have a good reputation with outsiders and are not in need. This will produce a church that is truly Holy in love.

 

To address their holiness and hopefulness for the Lord Jesus’ return, Paul assuages two of their fears by informing them that dead Christians will be snatched up with the living and we are not appointed for wrath but for salvation through Jesus’s atonement for His elect.

 

So, in chapter 4 and 5 so far, we see Paul address faith, then love, then hope, then hope again.  So as we move forward Paul will now move to address love, then faith again before the letter closes.

 

So, what does Paul have to say today that expands the idea of their labor of love abounding toward one another? Let’s look.

 

Please stand with me to give honor to and focus on the Word of God as it is read.

 

Invocation:

All Wise Father, Creator and Sustainer, we praise You for Your Son who is the Lord of all and the Head of the Church. He is the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, and He is The Great Shepherd. We thank You for His work to redeem a people unto Himself and we thank You for Your Spirit who has indwelled those people to guide them to all truth and progressively conform them to the image of Your dear Son. We thank You God for Your provision to the church that You have given gifts to the church in the form of leaders who are godly men serving You in Your strength and power, under the authority and in submission to Your Son. We ask that we would love those whom You have called and qualified to lead us and that we would be at peace, making leading us a joy and not a drudgery. We pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.

 

Transition:

[Slide 3] “Every man who is divinely called to the ministry is divinely equipped.” A. W. Pink

 

“I cannot recall, in any of my reading, a single instance of a prophet who applied for the job.” A.W. Tozer

 

“Obedience to legitimate authority is one of the fruits and evidences of Christian sincerity.” Charles Hodge

 

“Democracy is all very well as a political device. It must not be allowed to intrude into the spiritual, or even the aesthetic world.” C.S. Lewis

 

“Democracy is not an infallible way for getting things right. The democratic vote among the Israelites in the wilderness was to go back to Egypt.” John Blanchard

 

Meditate on these words as we expound the text this morning.

 

I.)                  The church must be holy in their love for their leadership, so we must look for and receive leaders whom the Lord has called and qualified. (12)

a.       [Slide 4] 12 - Now we ask you, brothers and sisters,

                                                               i.      Paul once again moves on to another topic under the same goal of producing holiness in the Thessalonian people.

                                                             ii.      As we noted, this begins another section where Paul is exhorting them to love one another in an abounding way.

                                                           iii.      For the second time Paul uses the verb “ask” to get across what he and the other evangelists would like to see from the Thessalonian church.

                                                           iv.      We should not interpret this to be a request from Paul, in the traditional meaning of the word ask.

                                                             v.      It is like when we ask our children if they would go do their chores… we aren’t really asking. But asking is kinder than barking orders. Asking communicates love and a good relationship. Asking gives respect.

                                                           vi.      So also, Paul asks the Thessalonian church to do something, but it is not as if this is optional for them.

                                                          vii.      So, what does Paul ask of them?

b.       [Slide 5] to acknowledge

                                                               i.      This infinitive functions as the complement to the plural pronoun you.

                                                             ii.      The verbal action of Paul asking produces the effect on the object (you) that they be a people who acknowledge.

                                                           iii.      This word is actually the word “to know.”

                                                           iv.      Paul has used this word repeatedly throughout the letter to assure and remind the Thessalonians of what they have already been taught by Paul and his companions when they visited them.

                                                             v.      Paul now is asking them to gain that same familiarity, not toward information, but toward people.

                                                           vi.      Therefore, the translation “acknowledge” seems to be the best understanding of the word.

                                                          vii.      Paul is asking for the Thessalonians to acknowledge or recognize, or even receive a group of people, in a similar way that they had acknowledged and received the evangelists’ teaching.

                                                        viii.      But what sort of people?

                                                            ix.      Well, Paul doesn’t name them. He doesn’t give them titles.

                                                             x.      Instead, Paul uses participles to describe what these people are like.

                                                            xi.      He describes them in three ways.

c.       [Slide 6] those who labor among you

                                                               i.      We know that Paul refers to a single group of people because he uses a single article and joins each participle with the conjunction “and.”

                                                             ii.      The Thessalonians have already been instructed in chapter 4 how working with their hands is one major way that they can show love to one another.

                                                           iii.      When they are not in need, they are helping the church by not being a drain on the church’s resources.

                                                           iv.      However, here, Paul suggests that there is a group of people who are not only working with their hands to provide for themselves, but is also working… AMONG them.

                                                             v.      Not only are they not a drain on the church’s resources, but they are contributing to the work and labor of the church.

                                                           vi.      The word labor implies not only work but hard work. Labor to exhaustion.

                                                          vii.      This labor need not be physical or manual labor. There is nothing with the Greek word that would mandate this. In fact, in other letters Paul uses this word to describe the labor of preaching and teaching.

                                                        viii.      And so, whoever Paul is asking the Thessalonians to acknowledge, they are hard workers who specifically work for the benefit of the church.

                                                            ix.      The following two descriptions could be seen as two aspects of that labor – but this is largely an interpretational decision. It could just as easily be two more descriptions of the same people.

                                                             x.      So, what other descriptions does Paul have for these people who must be acknowledged?

d.       [Slide 7] and preside over you in the Lord

                                                               i.      The word preside is a great word to use here because it carries the appropriate force.

                                                             ii.      Commentators go back and forth on whether or not this word speaks of authority or care.

                                                           iii.      Preside carries the appropriate amount of both. It means to oversee. It means to look after and guide.

                                                           iv.      It certainly means to rule in the sense that these folks are making the decisions, but not in a tyrannical way.

                                                             v.      Paul clarifies and shapes the word with the prepositional phrase “in the Lord.”

                                                           vi.      As commentators point out – this prepositional phrase is not called out here as if the other two descriptions of these folks are somehow NOT in the Lord.

                                                          vii.      Certainly, they labor among them… in the Lord.

                                                        viii.      Instead, the prepositional phrase is called out here to assure his readers that their oversight, their care, their rule is not done with selfish or power-hungry intentions.

                                                            ix.      Their presiding, is done in the Lord. Under His authority. They are ultimately under Christ.

                                                             x.      So, what is the final description of these people whom the Thessalonian church must acknowledge…

e.       [Slide 8] and admonish you,

                                                               i.      To admonish means to exhort, to counsel, to correct, to instruct, to guide, to warn and to teach.

                                                             ii.      The semantic range of the word is quite broad but generally speaking it carries the idea of parental guardianship.

                                                           iii.      In fact, Paul uses the same word when he instructs fathers to raise their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

                                                           iv.      This then, is the fatherly role of providing spiritual instruction both in example and in teaching to set a path and keep them from deviating from the path.

f.        With these descriptions it seems obvious that Paul is talking about the office of Elders among the Thessalonian church. Which raises a somewhat perplexing question.

g.       Why didn’t Paul simply tell them to acknowledge their Elders?

                                                               i.      The clue to the answer is the word “acknowledge” itself.

                                                             ii.      The word acknowledge seems to be an informal appointment or reception of the men who were conducting themselves in this way.

                                                           iii.      Paul and his companions were in Thessalonica for at most a few months.

                                                           iv.      And the vast majority of the church were gentiles and former pagans.

                                                             v.      That being said, new converts, only a few months into being believers are probably not the right people to appoint as Elders. Even if they are godly people and great teachers.

                                                           vi.      Paul actually warns Timothy about this when he instructs him not to appoint Elders who are new converts.

                                                          vii.      Certainly, in Acts we have records of Paul appointing Elders in the churches being established as a result of His evangelistic efforts. However, we are not told that this was a normal practice of his, as if each church waited for him to appoint Elders for them.

                                                        viii.      What is more likely is that although Paul did at times appoint Elders in certain churches, the more normative practice would be for the church to receive the Elders whom the Lord had clearly raised up for them.

                                                            ix.      Which means what Paul is saying, albeit in unofficial language, is for them to receive men as Elders of their church. And the three descriptions become an abbreviated list of their qualifications.

                                                             x.      Most likely, Paul has a specific group of men in mind, and by his threefold description has made it plain for the Thessalonians who he thinks should be Elders, without calling them out by name.  

h.       [Slide 9] Summary of the Point: Paul moves on in his effort to complete what is lacking in their faith by instructing them further on how they can abound in love toward one another. They are already laboring in love. But to abound in love, there are a few principles they must consider. And the first is regarding church leadership. Paul encourages the Thessalonian church to be holy or different in the way they love those who lead them. One way that they can love those who lead them is by acknowledging or receiving those whom the Lord has obviously qualified and called to lead them. The qualities of the men and evidence of their calling is on display in the way they are currently conducting themselves among the congregation. They are laboring hard for them, presiding over them, and admonishing them. Such men deserve reception into leadership.

 

[Slide 10 (blank)] Transition: But merely giving them a title will not ensure that the church is holy in their love for their leaders. Every organization on the planet is capable of recognizing hard working members and granting them leadership roles. The church is different because this is based on qualities and callings that are cultivated by God Himself. So, what else must the Thessalonians do toward their leaders to show a different and unique kind of love for them?

 

II.)                The church must be holy in their love for their leadership, so we must respect our Elders because of the work they have been called to perform. (13a)

a.       [Slide 11] 13 - and to esteem them most highly in love

                                                               i.      The second item that Paul asks the Thessalonian church to consider regarding these men who have become leaders among them, is to esteem them most highly.

                                                             ii.      To esteem means to regard or think of them…

                                                           iii.      It is a question of opinion or reputation.

                                                           iv.      But more importantly, it is a question of honor.

                                                             v.      Paul is asking the Thessalonians to give HIGHEST honor to these men.

                                                           vi.      To respect them, as the highest human authority in the church under Christ.

                                                          vii.      He is asking them to consider these men to be as highly regarded as he and his companions would be if they were among them.

                                                        viii.      And Paul encourages them to do this IN LOVE.

                                                            ix.      This gives a clue that the honor granted is not due to them because they have earned it or because they are more important that the rest of them.

                                                             x.      Instead, this is an act of selfless love. This is a way for them to labor in love toward one another.

                                                            xi.      This is a way for them to abound in love toward one another.

                                                          xii.      They must honor and respect these men to the highest degree out of a heart of a love for Christ and His people.

                                                        xiii.      The spirit of honoring these men is rooted in love. But what is the reason to honor them?

b.       [Slide 12] because of their work.

                                                               i.      More than likely, Paul is not referring to the excellence of their work.

                                                             ii.      He has already pointed to the fact that they labored to exhaustion, that they presided over them in the Lord, and that they admonished them.

                                                           iii.      This itself speaks to the quality of their work.

                                                           iv.      Here, Paul probably intends the importance of their work.

                                                             v.      An Elder’s role is of utmost importance and comes with the highest level of responsibility.

                                                           vi.      Peter points out that Elders care for the very soul of each person in their congregations. Paul points out that Elders function as shepherds under the Great Shepherd.

                                                          vii.      They are stewards of the church of Jesus Christ.

                                                        viii.      Such a role is of such importance and heavy responsibility that Paul advises that the church honor, to the highest degree, the men who have been received to function in this capacity.

                                                            ix.      Not because they do a good job… but because they have a heavy burden to bear.

c.       [Slide 13] Summary of the Point: Paul continues to prove out how the Thessalonian church can be unique in the way they love their leaders. One way they can do this is by respecting them, not because of the title they have, and not even because of their excellence in performing their duties, but respecting them most highly simply because of the weight of their work. Elders watch out for the souls of the congregation. They inherit spiritual responsibility beyond their own family and will answer to the Lord Jesus for how they lead and loved His church. Such a heavy burden deserves highest honor from those who are being lead and cared for.

 

[Slide 14 (blank)] Transition: But receiving qualified and called people into leadership and respecting them highly does not necessarily mean that you won’t be a thorn in the boot of church leadership. There is one more sure-fire practice that will alleviate the burden you put on your church leaders, while simultaneously showing abounding love to the whole church, including church leaders.

 

III.)               The church must be holy in their love for their leadership, so we must be at peace with one another. (13b)

a.       [Slide 15] Be at peace among yourselves.

                                                               i.      I read this final command in two ways. I can’t decide which way Paul intended and it is possible he intends both.

                                                             ii.      First, and probably less likely, Paul intends for the Thessalonian church to be a peace with the men who have been acknowledged and regarded as church leaders.

1.       That they would go along willingly and peacefully with the leadership and labor of these men.

2.       That they would not squabble or fight over preferences and unimportant matters, but would instead lovingly submit to their leadership and support them through prayer and meek correction at times.

3.       However, one could make the case that all of this was already said in the requests for them to acknowledge and esteem them most highly.

                                                           iii.      A second way we could read this, which is probably more likely, is Paul instructing the church as a whole to be at peace with one another.

1.       Paul will have more exhortations next week concerning the conduct of the church toward one another and how to abound in love toward each other.

2.       But we shouldn’t miss the obvious connection of this command to the reception and honoring of these men.

3.       Every person who has ever served in church leadership can tell you without any hesitation, that the church is much easier to lead, love, admonish, and labor for… when there are not a hundred little fights they need to police.

4.       When the church is generally at peace with each other and loving each other and discipling each other… leading, loving, laboring for, and admonishing such a people – takes on a joy that is not like anything else.

5.       In fact, Peter commands his readers to submit to, love, and pray for their Elders because it will allow their Elders to serve them joyfully and not as a drudgery.

b.       [Slide 16] Summary of the Point: Paul seals up any cracks and holes in his exhortation here. His desire is for the church to see that they must be different in how they love their leaders. And one sure-fire way to make sure they are different in their love for their leaders… is to be a peace with them and the rest of the church. Not a busy body. Not a rabble rouser. Not a lay about. Not a gossip. Not a sower of discord. But pursuing peace with everyone in the church, including their leaders. This is how we can be different in our love for our leaders.

 

Conclusion:

So CBC, what have we learned today that informs and corrects our beliefs and shapes and guides our lifestyles?

 

[Slide 17] Basics of Faith and Practice: In these last two chapters Paul is encouraging the Thessalonian church to consider that God’s will for them is to grow in holiness. To continually to be conformed to Christ and thus be more and more distinct from the world around them. One way they can be different is by abounding in love for those who lead them. But abounding love existing within the church begins with a proper level of acknowledgement of, respect for, and peace with its leadership. A church that claims to love each other but distrusts, neglects to pray for, disobeys its leaders, or are continually experiencing unrest or lack of peace, is a loveless congregation. It is only by receiving qualified and called leaders, highly honoring them, and being at peace with them and one another, that a church can truly be different and abounding in its love for its leaders.

 

But let us dig into some 21st century implications of this.

 

1.)    [Slide 18] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” We must affirm that the church should treat its leaders differently than the world.

a.       How does the world treat its leaders?

b.       Although there is not a universal sentiment to every single form of government, I think we can safely conclude that the world does NOT love its leaders.

c.       Fear? Sure. Distrust? Of Course. Hate? Yep.

d.       But I think you’d be hard pressed to find any person look at the leader of their job, their country, or even their HOA with… love, respect, and receiving them as their leader.

e.       A cursory level of attention pointed, even to our local government in Columbus Twp, assures us that there is anything but love for those who are making decisions that affect our township.

f.        But the church is designed by God… to be different.

g.       We are to love our leaders. We are to pray for them. We are to submit to them. We are to honor them. We are to be at peace with them and one another.

h.       What an amazing opportunity it is to show the world that the church is different… simply in the way we speak of and treat our leaders.

i.         Submitting to a decision you didn’t fully agree with, forgiving leaders who make a blunder, respecting them as some of the people you turn to most for guidance, receiving them as leaders even though you didn’t get a vote, and being at peace with them even though they do stuff that drives you nuts.

j.         Wow… if the world saw a church do that with its leadership…  I think they would be very… VERY confused.

2.)    [Slide 19] Refutation: “What lies must we cast down” or “What do we naturally believe, or have been taught to believe, that this passage shows is false?” We must deny that the church has ever been or was ever intended to be a democracy.

a.       The church is a monarchy and Christ is its King.

b.       And not everyone in the Kingdom has the same gifts, responsibilities, or authority.

c.       Even within the 12 disciples Christ spent more time with and prayed more often with three out of twelve.

d.       Peter, James, and John all had significant roles and authority in the church as it began.

e.       And we have absolutely no record of or examples of the church members gathering to determine courses of action.

f.        We do see the church gathered to be informed of steps that should be taken, and we see the church being pleased with those action steps.

g.       We see the church gathered to be informed about discipline and by the majority, punishment was administered.

h.       But no formal vote is cast. And certainly, the church membership is never reported to dictate what is to be done.

i.         The only model of leadership we find in the scriptures, is a plurality of Divinely called and equipped men, presiding over the church in service and love.

j.         God calls and qualifies leaders who act as stewards of the True King and Head of the church Jesus Christ.

k.       Their authority is limited both by the sphere of the church and the revelation of the Scriptures.

l.         But a plurality of Elders making all the decisions for and laboring long and admonishing the church is the only biblical model we are given.

m.     One wonders how we got so many and so drastically different forms of church polity, when the scriptures are literally silent on any other forms.

n.       In the church everyone does not have an equal say. Not everyone has an equal voice. Not everyone has an equal vote.

o.       But when God qualifies and calls the leaders of the church, members need not fear power grubbing or tyrannical leadership. Because God qualifies and calls Elders to selflessly serve the church, presiding over it, laboring hard for it, and admonishing it.

3.)    [Slide 20] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don’t naturally do or aren’t currently doing?” We must receive Elders who are called and qualified by God.

a.       Elders are not elected, they are received.

b.       Elders are not voted for, they are acknowledged.

c.       Elders do not campaign, they are called by God and gifted with grace to exemplify the qualifications God clearly spells out in the scriptures.

d.       This doesn’t mean they are perfect. Not like the King to that degree.

e.       There will be faults, failings, blind spots, character flaws, and even sinful tendencies. There may be things about them that bug you, bother you, or otherwise irritate you.

f.        But they are godly, they are hard workers, they are good leaders, and they are good guides.

g.       As such, it is incumbent upon the church to continue to look for those among them who seem to be qualified and called to be Elders. And when they happen upon someone who fits that description, they must receive that person and acknowledge them as such.

h.       This, in and of itself, is completely distinct from anything the world has ever seen.

i.         Even in a republic, elections are mostly popularity contests and those who have the most money to campaign usually win.

j.         And in dictatorships or monarchies leadership is passed to people who are unvetted as a leader or are just more powerful than the others.

k.       Only in Christ’s church does He qualify and call His leaders and they are received and acknowledged as the Lord’s choice for leaders.

l.         This is how it should be.

4.)    [Slide 21] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don’t naturally do or aren’t currently doing?” We must give our highest honor to our Elders because of the weight of their responsibilities toward us.

a.       In most types of leadership, we might favor a merit-based honor system. Or even, perhaps, honor given merely for the title that the person has.

b.       Only in the church is it expected to honor leaders neither for their performance nor for their title but merely because of the weight of responsibility they have.

c.       Certainly, Elders who lead well and labor long in preaching and teaching are worthy of double honor. Meaning not merely respect, but even financial compensation.

d.       And Elders who are especially used of God, will certainly be honored more.

e.       But the fact is that the church is commanded here to give their highest honor to Elders simply because of the job they have been given.

f.        To look out for the spiritual well-being of yourself… seems daunting at times.

g.       And if you have a family – that too is quite difficult.

h.       But for Elders they have all of this and also the weight of the individual souls of an entire congregation.

i.         They will be judged by Christ Himself according to how they took care of His bride.

j.         This detail alone is reason enough for the church to grant them their highest level of respect and honor.

5.)    [Slide 22] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don’t naturally do or aren’t currently doing?” We must be at peace with each other as an act of love toward our leaders and the church as a whole.

a.       When things are going well, people are growing, people are coming to Christ, and generally the church is progressing well…

b.       There is nothing more deflating to church leaders and nothing that stifles progress more than when people make mountains out of molehills.

c.       As much as the gospel should transform churches into holy places completely distinct – oftentimes these places are filled with Christians who are far from God or even those who claim to be Christians but are not actually Christians.

d.       As such, the church is waylaid by people who say they believe the scriptures but go to war over whether or not the Elders are visiting enough people, or making enough of an evangelistic effort, or connecting well with other churches or that the preaching Elder made them feel convicted by what he said in the sermon.

e.       And those are actually some of the “important” things they go to war over.

f.        And if these folks aren’t squabbling over the decisions of the Elders, they are battling with one another over things that love should be able to cover and forgiveness should overtake.

g.       Nothing takes the wind out of the sails of the church like church members who are overcome with selfish ambition and the need to have it their way.

h.       Well, the church isn’t Burger King.

i.         You can’t have it “your way”

j.         It is God’s way or it isn’t a church.

k.       And God has given Elders to wisely and prayerfully consider, guided by the scriptures, the way that God would have them go.

l.         Be at peace with each other and submit to each other.

m.     In this way the church is a bunch of people who don’t get everything they want and serve the Lord and each other with gladness and humility anyway.

6.)    [Slide 23] Comfort: “What comfort can we find here?” or “What peace does the Lord promise us in light of this passage of scripture?” God has given His church godly men, in plurality, to shepherd the flock until Christ gathers her again.

a.       Can you imagine if the Lord did establish a democracy for the church?

b.       Aaron giving in to the desire of the Israelites to make a golden calf and worship it as the god who brought them out of Egypt… suddenly looks like a unifying and wonderful time of togetherness and comradery.

c.       Paul would have no right to correct the Galatian church of whom the majority bought into the teachings of the Judaizers that they should be Jews first before they become Christians.

d.       Instead, we should comfort ourselves that God did not design His church to function this way.

e.       Instead, He calls and equips some men to be godly and work together with other godly men to lead and care for His people.

f.        They aren’t perfect individually, but together they sharpen each other and keep each other accountable to what the Lord would have them to do with His people.

g.       What a blessing.

h.       I have seen and heard stories of pastors who govern alone in a church. And it seems like they either become tyrants, door mats, or they get run out of their churches. Very rarely does a single man in leadership actually succeed in leading God’s church effectively.

i.         I am so thankful to the Lord for the plurality of qualified men that lead this church. They hold me accountable. I have been corrected by them, taught by them, helped by them, encouraged by them… and I hope they could say the same about me.

j.         Honestly – I can’t see any other form of church government as superior to what we have here. And I must tell you that you are truly blessed of God to have these men look after you.

k.       Oftentimes being an Elder is a thankless job. Do your best to make sure… that is less often for these men. Thank them. Pray for us. Submit to us. And honor us. Not because of our title. Not because we’ve earned it. But because God has laid on us the care of your soul.

7.)    [Slide 24] Evangelism: “What about this text points us to Jesus Christ, the gospel, and how we are restored?” Only something supernaturally powerful and genuine could produce selfless and hard-working leadership that is loved, cherished, and honored by those they lead. That is what the gospel does for the church.

a.       When we are a church like this… where the leaders are hardworking, selfless, and good teachers and guides, and when the church loves, honors, prays for a submits to them – such a church is a billboard for the gospel.

b.       No other organization on earth is like that.

c.       No other group of people or culture is like that.

d.       And there is no explanation that adequately answers the question, why, then the power of the gospel of Jesus’ Christ.

e.       He remakes our hearts. He conforms us to Him. He refines us. He changes us.

f.        If you are here today and you have never trusted in Christ. You have never turned from your sin. I implore you to know the power of the gospel. That it can change the vilest sinners into the purest saints. It can change adulterers into faithful spouses. It can turn ornery curmudgeons in to gentle and compassionate benefactors.

g.       And if you are here today – and you’ve professed to trust in Christ, but you are full of selfish ambition, it is your way or the highway, and you have no respect for God’s qualified and called leaders, nor do you intend to ever submit to or pray for them. I would challenge you to listen to the Lord’s commands before it is too late.

h.       A person who continually refuses to obey the Lord, is a person who cannot be sure they are truly changed by the power of the gospel. 

i.         Repent and believe the gospel and be saved.

j.         As always – if this is you – be sure to come to me or another Elder before you leave today. We’d be happy to have this conversation with you.

 

[Slide 25 (end)] Let me close with a prayer from the book of Christian prayers from 1578.

 

O Lord, let your shepherds be clothed with righteousness, and let your saints rejoice.

 

Pour out your Spirit of wisdom on these ministers of your word, so they may know the mysteries of your holy will. Give them the gift of utterance, that they may set forth the abundant riches of your gospel. Write your laws in their hearts, and your testimonies in their innermost parts, that they may lead your people into all truth, and guide your church with discretion.

 

Make them good workers, faithful shepherds, and wise builders. Help them to mend any broken walls and feed your sheep with the bread and water of life. Strengthen them to care for your vineyard, repair your sanctuary, and lift up those who are dedicated to the service of the Lord.

 

Finally, may they shine with such a holy and pure light before us that they may edify no less by example of life than by instruction of teaching. So, as we see the qualities you have given them to benefit the church-their modesty, meekness, endurance, patience, and more—may many others also be won to your gospel through their holiness, to confess the glory of your name. And we will see that you surely live, reign, and work in your servant.

 

We pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

 

Benediction:

May the God of Abraham Who reigns enthroned above,

Even the Ancient of everlasting days, the God of love,

Inspire you to behold His face and to make Him your shield and high tower.

So that you believe He is and that He is the rewarder of those who seek Him.

 

Until we meet again, go in peace.]]></description>
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				<title><![CDATA[15 I Thessalonians 5:1-11 Children of The Day]]></title>
				<category>Podcast</category>
				<itunes:author><![CDATA[Christopher C. Freeman]]></itunes:author>
				<itunes:subtitle><![CDATA[Title: Children of The Day

Text: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

FCF: We often struggle fearing the coming judgment and resting in Christ’s righteousness.

Prop: Because true believers have nothing to fear concerning the Day of the Lord, we must always be...]]></itunes:subtitle>
				<itunes:summary><![CDATA[Title: Children of The Day

Text: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

FCF: We often struggle fearing the coming judgment and resting in Christ’s righteousness.

Prop: Because true believers have nothing to fear concerning the Day of the Lord, we must always be ready, living holy lives, in accordance with the coming Kingdom.

Scripture Intro:

[Slide 1] Turn in your bible to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. In a moment we’ll read from the Legacy Standard Bible starting in verse one. You can follow along in the pew bible or in whatever version you prefer.

 

We are at the beginning of the last chapter of 1 Thessalonians, which means we need to review where we have been so far.

 

In chapter 1, Paul expresses his thankfulness to God for the Thessalonian church because he knows they are elect of God, because the gospel came to them in the power of the Spirit and because he has observed how the Thessalonian church has become imitators of Christ amid affliction.

 

In chapter 2, to counter claims of unbelieving Thessalonians, Paul insists that his visit with them was profitable because God gave them boldness to speak, they became a spiritual family, and because it produced the same results they had seen in previous outpourings of the gospel. He informs them that he greatly wished to visit them but had been hindered by Satan. But he assures them that they are his hope, joy, and glory in that they stand firm in their faith.

 

In chapter 3, Paul reveals that he sent Timothy to them because he was overwhelmed with godly concern for their faith. He also reveals his joy at the report from Timothy that they stood fast in their faith but that he hopes to see them again soon and complete what is lacking in their faith. He ends chapter 3 with a benediction, praying to God to bring them into fellowship again, to cause their love to abound and their holiness to be perfected for the Lord’s return.

 

Chapter 3 officially concludes the apologetic portion of the letter and chapter 4 begins the didactic and applicational side of the letter.

 

Paul begins chapter 4 by expressing that God’s will for all His people is for them to grow in holiness or distinctness from the world. This thought governs every topic throughout chapter 4 and chapter 5.

 

In chapter 4 Paul expresses three ways that believers can be holy and distinct in the world.

 

First in their sexual ethic, keeping all sexual activity within the bonds of marriage.

 

Second, in the way they love one another by leading a quiet life, minding their own business, and working with their hands. This will ensure a good reputation with outsiders and keep them from being in need.

 

Finally in chapter 4, Paul teaches that they can be holy in the way they grieve death. Specifically in the death of believers, they should grieve but with hope because the Lord will not abandon dead believers. Instead, the dead will rise first and then all believers will be snatched up to be with the Lord in the air. And from that moment on the Bride of Christ will always be with Him.

 

But just because the chapter broke, doesn’t mean Paul has finished talking about being holy nor is he done talking about the Thessalonians’ concerns about the end of the world.

 

Please stand with me to focus on and give honor to the Word of God as it is read.

 

Invocation:

Holy and Just Father, Your justice has been mocked since the serpent undermined Your Word in the garden. Ever...]]></itunes:summary>
				<description><![CDATA[Title: Children of The Day

Text: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

FCF: We often struggle fearing the coming judgment and resting in Christ’s righteousness.

Prop: Because true believers have nothing to fear concerning the Day of the Lord, we must always be ready, living holy lives, in accordance with the coming Kingdom.

Scripture Intro:

[Slide 1] Turn in your bible to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. In a moment we’ll read from the Legacy Standard Bible starting in verse one. You can follow along in the pew bible or in whatever version you prefer.

 

We are at the beginning of the last chapter of 1 Thessalonians, which means we need to review where we have been so far.

 

In chapter 1, Paul expresses his thankfulness to God for the Thessalonian church because he knows they are elect of God, because the gospel came to them in the power of the Spirit and because he has observed how the Thessalonian church has become imitators of Christ amid affliction.

 

In chapter 2, to counter claims of unbelieving Thessalonians, Paul insists that his visit with them was profitable because God gave them boldness to speak, they became a spiritual family, and because it produced the same results they had seen in previous outpourings of the gospel. He informs them that he greatly wished to visit them but had been hindered by Satan. But he assures them that they are his hope, joy, and glory in that they stand firm in their faith.

 

In chapter 3, Paul reveals that he sent Timothy to them because he was overwhelmed with godly concern for their faith. He also reveals his joy at the report from Timothy that they stood fast in their faith but that he hopes to see them again soon and complete what is lacking in their faith. He ends chapter 3 with a benediction, praying to God to bring them into fellowship again, to cause their love to abound and their holiness to be perfected for the Lord’s return.

 

Chapter 3 officially concludes the apologetic portion of the letter and chapter 4 begins the didactic and applicational side of the letter.

 

Paul begins chapter 4 by expressing that God’s will for all His people is for them to grow in holiness or distinctness from the world. This thought governs every topic throughout chapter 4 and chapter 5.

 

In chapter 4 Paul expresses three ways that believers can be holy and distinct in the world.

 

First in their sexual ethic, keeping all sexual activity within the bonds of marriage.

 

Second, in the way they love one another by leading a quiet life, minding their own business, and working with their hands. This will ensure a good reputation with outsiders and keep them from being in need.

 

Finally in chapter 4, Paul teaches that they can be holy in the way they grieve death. Specifically in the death of believers, they should grieve but with hope because the Lord will not abandon dead believers. Instead, the dead will rise first and then all believers will be snatched up to be with the Lord in the air. And from that moment on the Bride of Christ will always be with Him.

 

But just because the chapter broke, doesn’t mean Paul has finished talking about being holy nor is he done talking about the Thessalonians’ concerns about the end of the world.

 

Please stand with me to focus on and give honor to the Word of God as it is read.

 

Invocation:

Holy and Just Father, Your justice has been mocked since the serpent undermined Your Word in the garden. Ever since, Your creation has groaned in agony yearning to be rid of the sin that broke it. The ungodly and the wicked, the unbeliever and the unjust sit in their ease convinced that Your justice will never come. That they are safe and at peace with You because Your mercy and Your delay mean You care nothing about their sins. But we who have been shown the light and transferred from night to day, we know that Your justice will come. That the hammer will fall quickly and when it does, no one will be able to escape Your Great White Throne. All men will stand before You and answer for their sins. All except those who You offered up Your Son to save. God, may You speak to us today from Your Word and convince believers that we are children of the Day. We have no reason to fear the Dawn. But we must be awake and stay alert to behold its bright rays when it comes. Help us Lord to live for the dawn of Your eternal Kingdom. And convince unbelievers of the dreaded dawn they face since they are yet children of the night. We pray this in Jesus’ name… Amen.

 

Transition:

[Slide 2] “God’s will is done no less in the condemnation of unbelievers than in the salvation of those who put faith in the Lord Jesus. “ J.I. Packer

 

“The coming day of judgment is a doctrine that has been abused, misunderstood, and often used to manipulate people. But correctly understood in the context of God’s character and justice, it is a doctrine full of comfort for Christians.” Frank Retief

 

“In this liberal age we tend naturally to avoid any thought of God’s judgment.” David Watson

 

“The Lord has a golden scepter and an iron rod. Those who will not bow to the one shall be broken by the other.” Thomas Watson

 

Let these words of God’s justice and judgment sharpen your mind for the text this morning.

 

I.)                  We have nothing to fear concerning the Day of the Lord, so we must be alert and clear headed by living out our salvation. (1-8)

a.       [Slide 3] 1 - Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need of anything to be written to you.

                                                               i.      Apparently, not only were the Thessalonians concerned about Christ followers who had died not inheriting the New Kingdom, but they were also concerned about the timing of the events of the last days.

                                                             ii.      The way Paul addresses the issue in this passage it seems like their concern was primarily that they wished to know when the Day of the Lord would occur so they could be ready for it.

                                                           iii.      Most likely they feared that if they were not ready for it, they might get swept away in the judgment with the unbelievers as well.

                                                           iv.      But Paul is confident that he, or anyone else, doesn’t actually have to write anything to them concerning the events of the last days, nor their timing.

                                                             v.      Why?

b.       [Slide 4] 2 - For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.

                                                               i.      Paul once again points to their knowledge to substantiate his claim that they did not need to be given further instruction on this matter and also to refresh them in the teaching that they should know.

                                                             ii.      The teaching they have received is concerning something that Paul calls, “The Day of the Lord.”

                                                           iii.      But what is The Day of the Lord?

1.       The Day of the Lord refers to an undetermined time in which God will significantly, powerfully, and finally intervene in creation’s history in order to radically alter its trajectory and usher it to the eternal and perfect state.

2.       The Day of the Lord is first mentioned in the prophetic writings of Amos and Isaiah who were contemporaries and wrote about 800 years prior to Paul writing to the Thessalonians.

3.       [Slide 5] If we were to collect all of what the scripture speaks of regarding the Day of the Lord, we would find 4 significant categories of events that will happen on that day.

a.       First, that there will be a terrible tribulation, sorrow, difficulty, and affliction upon all mankind, including cosmic signs, wonders in heaven, terrible bloodshed and natural disasters that are spoken of as though they are world-ending or at very least world-crippling.

b.       A second aspect of the Day of the Lord will be The Lord coming to reign with all His Holy Ones. As the New Testament reveals this is actually Jesus Christ’s return with His Saints to rule the earth from Jerusalem.

c.       A third aspect of the Day of the Lord will be the final Judgment of all men. This is the culmination of God’s Justice where all sin will be paid and all sinners, both angelic and human, will be removed from the earth and cast into the Lake of Fire.

d.       One final aspect of the Day of the Lord is regarding the remaking of the Universe. A New Heaven and Earth will come, and we will enter the eternal state in this new Universe.

                                                           iv.      And so, the subject matter of the previous chapter, namely when Christ returns and His bride is snatched up to meet Him in the air, while being included in this discussion of the Day of the Lord, is not synonymous with the Day of the Lord.

                                                             v.      Although Christ’s return is certainly part of these events, the Day of the Lord is a collection of events that occurs over a difficult-to-pin-down time frame.

                                                           vi.      The order which we discussed the elements of the Day of the Lord seems to be the order in which they occur sequentially.

                                                          vii.      However, I would caution that we should be slow to create timelines or even assume that specific day and year statements in the scripture are always to be interpreted literally.

                                                        viii.      We must remain humble no matter what eschatological position we hold to, knowing that if John was kept from knowing all the details of the end, we certainly don’t know them all either.

                                                            ix.      [Slide 6] That being said, the Thessalonians were taught one specific thing about the Day of the Lord.

                                                             x.      That it would come like a thief in the night.

                                                            xi.      Well, what does that mean?

1.       Thieves come at night. Why?

2.       Because they are covered in darkness and might happen upon a home where everyone is asleep.

3.       If they move quietly enough, they may not be caught at all.

4.       And thieves do not sneak into your home and leave you love notes or flowers. Instead, they rob you and endanger your life by taking resources from you.

                                                          xii.      In a similar way the Day of the Lord will come unexpectedly, taking people unawares and leaving great destruction in its wake.

                                                        xiii.      Right off the bat this teaching is only feeding the Thessalonians’ fears that they too might be caught off guard and not be prepared for the Lord’s righteous judgment, and so be swept away with it.

                                                        xiv.      But let’s let Paul continue his point…

c.       [Slide 7] 3 - While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman who is pregnant, and they will never escape.

                                                               i.      Paul subtly introduces a pronoun here that we might not expect.

                                                             ii.      He does not say you or we, but they. Paul goes into the third person referring to a group of people that are not included in the church he is writing to nor the evangelists who are writing.

                                                           iii.      What is this group of people saying?

                                                           iv.      Peace and Safety!

                                                             v.      What does that mean?

                                                           vi.      It goes along with the person who is sleeping in a house when a thief comes to break in and steal.

                                                          vii.      A person who is asleep at night has come to believe that their house is safe from danger and that there is none who wish them harm. If they expected to be harmed or that their house was insecure, they would keep a watch all night long to make sure that no harm befell them.

                                                        viii.      This group of people, whoever they may be, have been convinced that they are at peace and safe from God and His just judgments.

                                                            ix.      How they have been convinced of this, Paul does not say.

                                                             x.      But he does say that they are woefully mistaken.

                                                            xi.      Indeed, while they are saying that they are at peace and safe, that is the time that destruction will suddenly come upon them.

                                                          xii.      Not slowly over the course of many years, but instantly.

                                                        xiii.      Paul likens it to a pregnant woman who goes into labor.

                                                        xiv.      While the pregnancy lasts nine months and there are certainly signs that the time to give birth is approaching, the coming of labor is still not something that most people are able to prepare for. Especially at this time in the first century.

                                                          xv.      And like labor pains, it is also something that you cannot avoid or forgo.

                                                        xvi.      A child must come and in the same way – the destruction will come upon them and they will not escape it.

                                                       xvii.      Before we answer the question, who are “They”… let’s go on to the next two verses, which will give us a clue.

d.       [Slide 8] 4 - But you, brothers, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief, 5 - for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness;

                                                               i.      Paul very clearly tells the Thessalonians that they are not the “they” of verse 3.

                                                             ii.      In fact, the Thessalonians are expected to NOT be surprised by the coming of the Day of the Lord. Nor are they expected to experience the destruction of that day.

                                                           iii.      Why?

                                                           iv.      Because although the coming of the Day of the Lord occurs like a thief in the night for the “them” of verse 3 – the primary reason for this is because they are of the night and of the darkness.

                                                             v.      This clarifies for us who the “them” is in verse 3. Who else could it be but the ungodly and the wicked. Unbelievers will be totally taken by surprise by the Day of the Lord. It will come upon them so suddenly that they will not be able to escape it.

                                                           vi.      Another question we must ask is, what specific aspect of the Day of the Lord is being referred to here in this passage?

1.       Is it the tribulation, the coming of Christ, the judgment, or the renewing of the universe?

2.       Since the renewed universe seems to occur after the judgment, it seems unlikely to be the sudden destruction Paul refers to.

3.       The coming of Christ certainly might lead to destruction, but if this is what Paul was referring to, we might expect a more explicit link to chapter 4 since Paul just talked about this with them.

4.       Therefore, I think we can reasonably conclude that this is referring to either the Tribulation or the final judgment.

5.       And since the destruction he speaks of comes suddenly and all at once, it seems unlikely that this refers to a Tribulation period. We’ll see another proof later in verse 9 that definitively proves that Paul is not talking about the Tribulation period in this text. But we’ll get to that in a few minutes.

6.       Therefore, the sudden and unexpected destruction on the wicked must refer to the Last judgment.

                                                          vii.      But what about the sons of the day and the sons of light?

                                                        viii.      What should they do with the coming of the Day of the Lord?

e.       [Slide 9] 6 - so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be awake and sober.

                                                               i.      Paul encourages the Thessalonian believers to live as though they are children of the Day.

                                                             ii.      He encourages them not to sleep. This is somewhat ironic since in the previous thought, the sleeping referred to those who were dead.

                                                           iii.      Now, however, Paul has clearly changed metaphors as those who sleep are those who are spiritually dead. It is those who think that things are at peace and that they are safe from God’s judgment.

                                                           iv.      Christians are not to live as though the judgment and justice of God will never come. Instead, they are to live in obedience knowing that God has already executed justice on their sin thorough Christ and will one day execute justice on all men.  

                                                             v.      Furthermore, they are to be eagerly anticipating the day of the Lord, since this will mark the justice of God making all things as they should be.

                                                           vi.      Paul advises that they be awake and sober.

                                                          vii.      But what does it mean to be sober? Paul will explain…

f.        [Slide 10] 7 - For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 - But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.

                                                               i.      Riffing off the ideas of being awake and sober, Paul indicates that those who are in the night are those who sleep and get drunk.

                                                             ii.      Here, the word sleep takes on a third meaning, which is, actually literal asleep.

                                                           iii.      The activities of getting drunk and sleeping do not typically occur in the day, because these activities severely limit a person’s ability to keep their daytime responsibilities.

                                                           iv.      Instead, they are done at night.

                                                             v.      But we are children of the day. We are in the day. Meaning that we should be awake and sober. We should be alert and clear headed, looking expectantly for the Day of the Lord.

                                                           vi.      And Paul specifically spells out what he means by being sober with an abbreviated armor of God motif.

                                                          vii.      And lo and behold, we see the triad of virtues that we have called the cardinal Christian virtues again come into play in the letter.

                                                        viii.      These virtues are present in the church in Thessalonica. They have these virtues to be sure.

                                                            ix.      Paul then is not asking them to do something they cannot or have not done. He is simply telling them to aim these virtues toward their concerns regarding the events of the Day of the Lord.

1.       First, they are to arm themselves with the breastplate of faith and love.

a.       In Ephesians, Paul refers to the breastplate as the breastplate of righteousness, taking a more literal quote from the prophet Isaiah. So, is this a contradiction?

b.       It is not because faith and love are the starting point of righteous living.

c.       They are included gifts with our imputed righteousness from Christ and they are the bedrock upon which all our righteous deeds rest.

d.       So, Paul calls them put on faith and love – being slaves of righteousness.

e.       Living in righteousness, produced by faith and love, enables us to remain clear headed as we live for the kingdom to which we belong and not the kingdom that is passing away.

f.        This is directly addressing their concern over the timing of the Day of the Lord because they don’t feel as though they are spiritually ready to face Christ.

g.       Paul encourages them to continue living a holy life. But this is not ultimately what makes us ready to face Christ on the day of judgment.

2.       Paul continues by saying that they must put on as a helmet the hope of salvation.

a.       The hope of salvation is not merely escaping from hell.

b.       Ultimately the hope of salvation is negatively the escape from the wrath of God against sinners, and positively the inheritance of life and peace with God through the reward Christ earned in His obedience.

c.       Everything comes back to the gospel.

d.       Indeed, Paul takes them back to the gospel because this is what immediately addresses their fears.

e.       They fear facing Christ because they do not think they are spiritually ready to do so. They are not holy enough.

f.        Though they must be holy and live righteously, ultimately it is the hope of the gospel that keeps us depending on Christ’s obedience and sacrifice which is the only thing that assures us that we will not be swept away with the wicked.  

g.       [Slide 11] Summary of the Point: Paul addresses another concern the Thessalonians raised about the Day of the Lord. They wondered how long they had before Judgment Day. They know that they are still learning and growing and becoming more and more holy. But they are not where they want to be. How much time do they have left to grow more like Christ? Paul’s words are corrective and comforting. He tells them that they have nothing to fear concerning the Day of the Lord. It won’t take them unawares if they are Children of the Day. All they need to concern themselves with is remaining alert and continuing to progress in living holy lives by putting on the three cardinal Christian graces of faith, love, and hope, because that is what children of the Day do.

 

Transition:

[Slide 12 (blank)] These first 8 verses address some of the fears of the Thessalonians. But what about the coming destruction. Paul said destruction would come suddenly. Would it come upon them too? What if they weren’t holy enough? Paul will address this next.

 

I.)                  We have nothing to fear concerning the Day of the Lord, so we must comfort and build one another up. (9-10)

a.       [Slide 13] 9 - For God has not appointed us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 - who died for us,

                                                               i.      The word translated “for” is a conjunction which relates the cause of the verbal action.

                                                             ii.      The verbal action is the command to be sober or clear headed having put on the breastplate of faith and love and the helmet of the hope of salvation.

                                                           iii.      What is the cause of us putting on these cardinal Christian virtues?

                                                           iv.      We were not appointed for wrath but for salvation. That is why we can wear the armor and live holy lives.

                                                             v.      But what does it mean that we are not appointed for wrath?

1.       Regardless of eschatological leanings, almost every commentator understands the meaning of this wrath the same way.

2.       Paul is NOT talking about temporal wrath that God pours out on the earth during a time of Tribulation.

3.       We know that is the case because of the context.

a.       Before this, Paul is talking about the hope of salvation.

b.       After this, Paul is talking about obtaining salvation.

c.       Both of these salvations clearly speak, not of temporal physical safety, but of eternal spiritual safety.

4.       The only real possibility here is that this wrath is the eternal judgment of God.

                                                           vi.      Paul says that we must face the Day of the Lord with hopeful anticipation of our eternal salvation… and not our sudden eternal destruction. Why?  

                                                          vii.      Because we are NOT appointed for wrath but instead, we ARE appointed to obtain salvation through Jesus Christ. Who died for us.

                                                        viii.      It is not that we don’t deserve the judgment. We most certainly do.

                                                            ix.      But Jesus died for those who were appointed to obtain salvation and NOT for those who were appointed for wrath.

1.       This presents two doctrines that I believe are clearly taught in scripture. I do want to teach them to you carefully because I know they are doctrines we were not taught as children. And if we were taught them, we were taught to reject them without any real investigation as to what the scriptures teach.   

2.       I think this text clearly teaches us two things.

a.       First, that God alone determines the eternal destiny of all men and has appointed all men for that destiny since before the foundation of the world.

b.       Second, that Jesus’ death on the cross was a payment made specifically and only for those whom God appointed to obtain salvation.

3.       Let me break down the first doctrine. God appoints men for salvation or for wrath.

a.       All men are sinners. No one is righteous. Not even one.

b.       God predestines those who will be His by choosing them in Christ before the world began. He does this according to the counsel of His own will and not according to our works.

c.       If you have a problem with anything I’ve said so far… I’ve basically been quoting the bible. So, take it up with God and not me.

d.       This also means that God appoints those He did not predestine to wrath and to inherit the just punishment of their sin.

e.       God does not do this as a primary agent. Meaning He does not force men to sin, nor does He force men not to believe. He simply does not intervene for those whom He has not chosen in Christ.

4.       The second doctrine teaches that Jesus’ substitutionary death on the cross was given only for those whom God appointed to salvation.

a.       This text almost says this, verbatim.

b.       Those who were appointed to wrath ARE NOT those who were appointed to salvation through Jesus who died on the cross for them.

c.       Those who were appointed to salvation through Jesus who died on the cross for them ARE NOT those who were appointed for wrath.

d.       Jesus did not die for all mankind. If He did, He would be disobeying the will of God the Father in His appointment of many men for wrath.

e.       In this we see that the scriptures clearly teach that Jesus Christ did not die His substitutionary death to provide a potential salvation for every single person… but rather the certainty of salvation for His sheep. His death is effective to save those appointed for salvation. And His death was not given for those who were appointed for wrath.

f.        I’ll leave the matter there for two reasons. First, it isn’t productive to go on and on with this. I’ll pray the Lord continues to show you the truth of this text and others to prove these doctrines to be true. Second, it isn’t the main crux of what Paul is saying.

                                                             x.      But see how Paul uses these doctrines.

                                                            xi.      You can put on the faith, love, and hope of salvation, you can be clear-headed to face the Day of the Lord… WHY?

                                                          xii.      Because you were not appointed for the judgment to come… but for obtaining salvation through Jesus’ death.

                                                        xiii.      You are the elect of God and Jesus came from heaven to obey the appointment of God for your soul to be saved from His just judgment.

                                                        xiv.      And what does that mean?

b.       [Slide 14] so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him.

                                                               i.      What does Paul mean here?

                                                             ii.      Paul has used the word sleep three different ways since chapter 4 verse 13.

1.       First to speak of those who are dead in Christ.

2.       Second to speak of those who are dead in their sin.

3.       And finally, to speak of those who are literally asleep.

                                                           iii.      If we look at chapter 4 verse 14, we see Paul reference the death and resurrection of Christ. Here we see him reference the same thing. This is probably a clue for us to come back around again to the first meaning of the word asleep.

                                                           iv.      It certainly cannot mean that whether we are dead spiritually or alive spiritually we will live with Christ.

                                                             v.      It may mean that whether we are physically asleep or physically awake we will live with Christ… but one wonders why Paul needed to say this.

                                                           vi.      Therefore, It must mean that whether we are alive in Christ or dead in Christ, we will all live with Christ.

                                                          vii.      They were concerned that those dead in Christ would not live together with Christ.

                                                        viii.      And they were concerned that those living would be taken unprepared and be judged with the rest of the wicked.

                                                            ix.      Paul says, in no uncertain terms, because Jesus came from heaven and sought those whom the Father appointed to obtain salvation through His atoning death…

                                                             x.      Whether you are alive or dead at The Day of the Lord…

                                                            xi.      We all will live together with Him.

                                                          xii.      Forever.

                                                        xiii.      We put on faith, love, and hope – not to escape judgment… but because we are children of the Day.

                                                        xiv.      And if we are children of the Day – we were not appointed for judgment.

                                                          xv.      Because of this teaching, Paul’s final word is an obvious but necessary command.

c.       [Slide 15] 11 - Therefore, comfort one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.

                                                               i.      Take what he has said and bring comfort to each other.

                                                             ii.      Take what he has said and build each other up.

                                                           iii.      God will not lose even one whom He has appointed for salvation.

                                                           iv.      All will be rescued to live with Him.

                                                             v.      None will be swept away with the wicked.

                                                           vi.      None will be forgotten in the realm of the dead.

                                                          vii.      So, keep living for the Kingdom…

                                                        viii.      Because it is coming.

d.       [Slide 16] Summary of the Point: In his second point, Paul makes the same case but from a different angle. Believers have no reason to fear concerning the Day of the Lord because the judgment that is coming only comes on those who were appointed for wrath. It does not come upon those who were appointed for salvation through Christ who died for them. So, we should comfort each other in the absolute certainty of the effectiveness of the atonement of Jesus Christ for His elect… and we should build each other up to live holy lives, not to escape God’s wrath, but because we have been bought with a price.

 

Conclusion:

So, CBC, what have we learned today that informs or corrects our beliefs and guides and shapes our practice?

 

Basics of Faith and Practice:

[Slide 17] Paul massages the eschatological fears of the Thessalonian church for the second time. Last week they were afraid that those who had died in Christ would miss the eternal Kingdom. Now the Thessalonians fear the timing of the Day of the Lord because they don’t feel as though they are ready to face the Judgment of God. But Paul reminds them that although the Day of the Lord will come unexpectedly and with sudden destruction upon the wicked – THEY have not been appointed to wrath. They are NOT children of the night. Instead, they are children of day and have been appointed to obtain salvation through Jesus who died for them. In short, all believers have nothing to fear regarding the Day of the Lord. And since they have nothing to fear, they must be alert, they must continue to grow in holiness, seeking God’s Kingdom and righteousness first, and they must comfort each other and help each other live holy lives.

 

But what might this look like for us in the 21st century?

 

1.)    [Slide 18] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” We must affirm that The Day of the Lord will come upon the wicked unexpectedly and with great destruction.

a.       The reason that it comes unexpectedly is not because the signs of the final judgment will be easy to miss.

b.       The reason is because they are children of the night and will be deceived to think that they are at peace and safe from the divine justice of a holy God.

c.       Indeed, when they have finally ruled out all possibility that a Just Judge will hold them accountable for the sins they love, at such a time, that is when the iron rod will fall and they will face the Great White Throne of Jesus Christ to answer for their sins.

d.       They won’t see it coming. And they won’t be able to escape.

e.       The words Paul puts in the mouths of the wicked “Peace and Safety” are eerily similar to words spoken by people who claim to be Christians when they say, “It’s ok, God will forgive me.” Or “Hey Jesus loved everyone no matter who they were.” Or, even more appalling, “Only Jesus can judge me.”

f.        My friends… if you have uttered these words, if you believe these words and their intended undercurrent of meaning – I’d encourage you to wake up. You are asleep.

g.       You have bought into a version of Jesus and God that does not exist. The Jesus you serve is a fictional character of your own imagination.

h.       When John the apostle saw Jesus in His glory in the vision of Revelation… John, an apostle who Jesus loved… John one of the inner circle of the three… John who alone was guaranteed not to be martyred for His devotion to Jesus Christ… John fell on His face in abject terror at the sight of Jesus Christ in His glory.

i.         My friends, if John was terrified at the glorious presence of Jesus… what makes you think that Jesus is ok with you sinning? What makes you think that the judgment that is to come is not a terrible and fearful thing to consider.

j.         If you keep thinking so poorly and irreverently of the Second person of the Godhead – you may suddenly stand before Him one day and hear Him utter the words – Depart from me, you lawless one, I never knew you.

2.)    [Slide 19] Refutation: “What lies must we cast down” or “What do we naturally believe, or have been taught to believe, that this passage shows is false?” We must deny that believers have any reason to fear the Day of the Lord.

a.       Although the scriptures describe the Day of the Lord as Great and Terrible, we must recognize that ultimately the Day of the Lord has nothing but promises and peace for God’s children.

b.       Even if it turns out that the rapture doesn’t occur until the very end and God’s people have to physically be present and endure the tribulation and millennium, to live is still Christ and to die is still gain.

c.       Even if we die in one of the bowl judgments or one of the trumpet judgments, or in the third year of the millennium or even if there is no millennium… to die is still gain. To live is still Christ.

d.       I fear that sometimes the way we talk about the end times gets twisted to put terror in the hearts of believers.

e.       This ought not be so.

f.        We have nothing to fear from the Day of the Lord. Even if we are caught up in the physical judgment of God… we will be spared the eternal judgment because Christ has died for us.

g.       Don’t look at the end times with fear and trembling.

h.       Instead, look at the end times as a wonderful promise of God’s future and eternal justice.

i.         Whatever your eschatology… if it causes believers to look at the end with fear… it is bad eschatology.

3.)    [Slide 20] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don’t naturally do or aren’t currently doing?” We must not concern ourselves with the timing of the Day of the Lord.

a.       Most of the motivation of the Thessalonians to know the moment when the Day of the Lord occurred, was to make sure they were adequately prepared for the coming judgment.

b.       Paul comforts them by communicating that Christ’s substitutionary atonement for their sin has done all they need to prepare them for the final judgment.

c.       But I fear that 21st century Christians continue to concern ourselves with the timing of the Day of the Lord. Unfortunately, this is mostly out of nosiness than out of fear.

d.       We’ve all seen predictions of Christ’s return come and go.

e.       We’ve heard of people falling into financial ruin because they did silly things, making silly purchases, thinking that they would not have to worry about finances since Christ will return.

f.        I think it is for this very reason that God did not reveal the timing of the judgment.

g.       When we humans think we know what is coming and when – we start acting differently.

h.       Paul makes it clear that we don’t really need to concern ourselves with the exact moment the Day of the Lord will occur.

4.)    [Slide 21] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don’t naturally do or aren’t currently doing?” Instead, we must always be ready, living holy lives, putting on faith, love, and hope, not to save ourselves from judgment but because we are children of the day.

a.       Paul’s message is far from – “sit back and take your ease because you know the Lord is not coming for you when He comes to judge.”

b.       Paul’s message is “everyone who is an unbeliever is sitting back and taking their ease. You live righteously out of your salvation for the glory of Your King to prepare for His Kingdom”

c.       And here is another way the church can be different from the world.

d.       We are not sitting back and taking it easy because we know our Lord wins. Instead, knowing our Lord wins, we go out and act as though He has won.

e.       We live, to the best of our ability, the way we will live in the future Kingdom. This is an act of faith professing that the kingdom is so sure, that we will live as a citizen of it now.

f.        Not because living a holy life will prevent us from being judged… but simply because we are citizens of the Kingdom of light and are children of the Day.

5.)    [Slide 22] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don’t naturally do or aren’t currently doing?” We must comfort and build up each other in this hope. 

a.       Not only must we live holy lives as children of the Day, but we must also comfort one another and build each other up in the hope of this passage.

b.       We have no reason to fear. The Lord wins. He will save us and He will Justly judge the wicked.

c.       So, as an immediate application of this, let me do my part to comfort you and build you up…

6.)    [Slide 23] Comfort: “What comfort can we find here?” or “What peace does the Lord promise us in light of this passage of scripture?” Those whom God has appointed to obtain salvation through Jesus, who died for them, will obtain salvation and not endure the judgment of God on the Day of the Lord.

a.       Steering away from the more confrontational doctrines and eschatological views…

b.       This point of application is merely the recognition that God will sort it out rightly in the end.

c.       We don’t have to fear that we will get swept away with the wicked just like we don’t have to fear that a wicked person might accidentally enter the eternal Kingdom.

d.       God has appointed some for wrath and some to obtain salvation. And He knows who are His. He knows which ones are sheep and which ones are goats.

e.       We don’t need to fear the Day of the Lord as believers… because we’ve been appointed to salvation. So we will be saved.

f.        But if you are not a believer today, you know there are only two destinies. And as a person who is not submitted to Christ and following Him, you know that at least right now… you are not one who will be saved. Therefore, you must consider that you may be one who has been appointed to wrath.

g.       These destinies are fixed and there is no changing them. The only question is to which do you belong.

7.)    [Slide 24] Evangelism: “What about this text points us to Jesus Christ, the gospel, and how we are restored?” Those who are appointed for wrath will not escape the judgment of God. Turn from your sins and submit to Jesus’ saving work and lordship of your life and prove that you are not appointed for wrath.

a.       My friends, the Day of the Lord is not here yet.

b.       On that day those appointed to wrath will be judged and those appointed to obtain salvation through Jesus’ death will be saved.

c.       But today is not that day.

d.       There is still time for you to turn from your sin. To forsake what the Lord calls wicked and put your hope exclusively in the finished work of Christ and submit to obey His commands as a child of the Day.

e.       Doing this does not change you from destined for wrath to destined for salvation… it merely proves that you were not appointed for wrath.

f.        So, remove the doubt of your destiny. Turn from sin and follow Christ and know that you were NOT appointed for wrath.

g.       If you wish to embark upon the life of a citizen of the Day and follow Jesus today – please see me or another Elder before you leave.

 

[Slide 25 (end)] Let me close with a prayer by the church father Augustine of Hippo.

 

You who overcame death when you yourself arose, and who also will make every person arise...

 

You who makes us worthy of you, and cleanses us from all our sins, and makes us right in your presence, and hears our prayers...

 

You who brought us into your household, and always teaches us your good ways, and does us good, and does not abandon us to serve an evil lord, as we once did...

 

You call us back to the right way, and you lead us to the door, and open it to us, and give us the bread of eternal life and the drink of life's well.

 

You who warns us away from sin, and teaches us to judge rightly, and then to do righteousness...

 

You strengthened us, and still do, in our belief, so unbelievers will not harm us.

 

You have given us, and still do give us, understanding to overcome the error of those who teach that there is no reward or accountability after death.

 

You who have released us from slavery, you have prepared eternal life for us, and prepared us for eternal life.

 

We pray this now to the praise of Jesus and in His name, Amen.

 

Benediction:

The God of peace be with you,

Until you see that happy place and be forever blessed,

Until you see your Father's face and in his bosom rest.

 

Until we meet again, go in peace.]]></description>
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				<title><![CDATA[14 I Thessalonians 4:13-18 Grieve in Hope]]></title>
				<category>Podcast</category>
				<itunes:author><![CDATA[Christopher C. Freeman]]></itunes:author>
				<itunes:subtitle><![CDATA[Title: Grieve In Hope

Text: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

FCF: We often struggle despairing over death.

Prop: Because God will raise His children to life and bring all His elect to Him when He returns, we must not grieve without hope.

 

Scripture...]]></itunes:subtitle>
				<itunes:summary><![CDATA[Title: Grieve In Hope

Text: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

FCF: We often struggle despairing over death.

Prop: Because God will raise His children to life and bring all His elect to Him when He returns, we must not grieve without hope.

 

Scripture Intro: CSB

[Slide 1] Turn in your bible to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. In a moment we will read from the Christian Standard Bible starting in verse 13. You can follow along in the pew bible or in whatever version you prefer.

 

Paul has turned to teaching. He is seeking to build what is lacking in the faith of the Thessalonians. He spent the first three chapters defending their visit and the experience that these Thessalonian believers had in receiving the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit. But now, he turns to application for them.

 

The rest of the book is designed to fulfill his benediction prayer. That they would become blameless in holiness. He revealed at the beginning of chapter 4 that God’s will for His people is that they become more and more holy, different, set apart.

 

He has already addressed two areas in their life that they can be holy. First, their sexual ethic and second their love for other believers.

 

Today, Paul will broach the topic…  of death. How can we be different than the world when it comes to the concept of death?

 

Please stand with me to focus on and give honor to the Word of God as it is read.

 

Invocation:

Most gracious and loving Lord. We thank You that You are sovereign over life and death. That not even a bird falls without your knowledge and will. Although death is not an original part of your creation, and although it has always been a punishment for sin, it does not have power over You and Your will.  Though Satan is said to wield its power, he does this by Your will and by Your permission, so that all things are according to Your immutable and sovereign decree. We thank You for these truths because they help us to establish a proper understanding of death so that we can be a people who are holy because we are filled with hope. Transform us Lord by Your promises and power, we pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

 

Transition:

[Slide 2] “Our friends bring us to the grave and leave us there, but God will not.” Anonymous

 

“At the close of every obituary of His believing children God adds the word… henceforth!” A.W. Tozer

 

“We are more sure to arise out of our graves than out of our beds.” Thomas Watson

 

“The resurrection and the judgment will demonstrate before all worlds who won and who lost. We can wait.” A.W. Tozer

 

Ponder these wonderful words as we consult the text of scripture today.

 

I.)                  The dead in Christ will be raised first, so we must not grieve without hope. (13-16)

a.       [Slide 3] 13 - We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, concerning those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who have no hope.

                                                               i.      The CSB is unlike many modern translations of this verse in that it does not include some sort of conjunction to begin this verse.

                                                             ii.      Either “but” or “now” are appropriate. But deciding on which is difficult. The CSB leaves it untranslated to accommodate both options.

                                                           iii.      Either way, Paul is c...]]></itunes:summary>
				<description><![CDATA[Title: Grieve In Hope

Text: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

FCF: We often struggle despairing over death.

Prop: Because God will raise His children to life and bring all His elect to Him when He returns, we must not grieve without hope.

 

Scripture Intro: CSB

[Slide 1] Turn in your bible to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. In a moment we will read from the Christian Standard Bible starting in verse 13. You can follow along in the pew bible or in whatever version you prefer.

 

Paul has turned to teaching. He is seeking to build what is lacking in the faith of the Thessalonians. He spent the first three chapters defending their visit and the experience that these Thessalonian believers had in receiving the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit. But now, he turns to application for them.

 

The rest of the book is designed to fulfill his benediction prayer. That they would become blameless in holiness. He revealed at the beginning of chapter 4 that God’s will for His people is that they become more and more holy, different, set apart.

 

He has already addressed two areas in their life that they can be holy. First, their sexual ethic and second their love for other believers.

 

Today, Paul will broach the topic…  of death. How can we be different than the world when it comes to the concept of death?

 

Please stand with me to focus on and give honor to the Word of God as it is read.

 

Invocation:

Most gracious and loving Lord. We thank You that You are sovereign over life and death. That not even a bird falls without your knowledge and will. Although death is not an original part of your creation, and although it has always been a punishment for sin, it does not have power over You and Your will.  Though Satan is said to wield its power, he does this by Your will and by Your permission, so that all things are according to Your immutable and sovereign decree. We thank You for these truths because they help us to establish a proper understanding of death so that we can be a people who are holy because we are filled with hope. Transform us Lord by Your promises and power, we pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

 

Transition:

[Slide 2] “Our friends bring us to the grave and leave us there, but God will not.” Anonymous

 

“At the close of every obituary of His believing children God adds the word… henceforth!” A.W. Tozer

 

“We are more sure to arise out of our graves than out of our beds.” Thomas Watson

 

“The resurrection and the judgment will demonstrate before all worlds who won and who lost. We can wait.” A.W. Tozer

 

Ponder these wonderful words as we consult the text of scripture today.

 

I.)                  The dead in Christ will be raised first, so we must not grieve without hope. (13-16)

a.       [Slide 3] 13 - We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, concerning those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who have no hope.

                                                               i.      The CSB is unlike many modern translations of this verse in that it does not include some sort of conjunction to begin this verse.

                                                             ii.      Either “but” or “now” are appropriate. But deciding on which is difficult. The CSB leaves it untranslated to accommodate both options.

                                                           iii.      Either way, Paul is clearly moving to a new topic, but we should not think for one moment that Paul’s words here have nothing to do with what he’s been saying since the didactic shift in the letter which began in chapter 4.

                                                           iv.      Paul is certainly still teaching about God’s desire for His children to become more and more holy. To be more and more different.

                                                             v.      Up to this point in the letter, in almost everything he has written Paul has continued to say, “as you know”, or “as you remember”, or “as you witnessed”, or “as we commanded you…”

1.       Most of what Paul has said in this letter has been things that the evangelists clearly taught the Thessalonians while they were in Thessalonica.

2.       But Paul opens this section expressing his desire that they not be uninformed.

3.       This is the first time in the letter where Paul is about to instruct them on something that either he and his companions did not give to them, or something that the Thessalonians had somewhat misunderstood as proven by the report from Timothy.

4.       Paul doesn’t want them to be ignorant of this teaching or misinformed.

                                                           vi.      The expression, “those who are asleep” is a euphemism for people being dead.

1.       This is a fairly common expression at this time to refer to someone who has died. It is similar to our expression “passing away.” It is a euphemism to soften the blow of the reality.

2.       Whatever they got wrong or do not know concerns those who have died.

                                                          vii.      Paul hopes that by sharing this teaching with them that they will not grieve death the same way that those outside the church grieve death.

                                                        viii.      And then he specifically calls out how unbelievers grieve death. They grieve without hope.

1.       The common view in the first century was that once you were dead, you stayed that way. There really was no returning from death.

2.       Theocritus, a Greek writer and poet once said, “Hopes are for the living; the dead are without hope.”

3.       And although there were few who believed that the soul did endure beyond death – there was certainly no returning or resurrection.

4.       And even those who did believe in the soul’s enduring past death, would not have hope in any way according to Paul’s perspective.

                                                            ix.      So, Paul wants them to be different. To be set apart. To be holy in the way they grieve those who have died.

                                                             x.      That is his application.

                                                            xi.      But so far, it lacks a reason. It lacks the doctrinal foundation to expect this conclusion.

                                                          xii.      Why should the Thessalonians grieve differently than unbelievers who grieve without hope.

b.       [Slide 4] 14 - For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, in the same way, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.

                                                               i.      Paul states this with a conditional “if” clause, not to question whether or not the Thessalonians believed this, but as a rhetorical device.

1.       If I said, “if we aren’t fools, we will trust the Lord.” I’m not actually suggesting that we are fools. It is a rhetorical expression designed to move the audience to adopt a belief. 

2.       In a similar way, Paul says “if we believe that Jesus died and rose again” which should generate a hearty amen from his audience. Why?

a.       The core of Christian doctrine must include two key concepts of Jesus’ life on earth.

b.       That He died and that He rose again.

c.       Obviously, there is much more to it than that – but these two truths form the crux for every redemptive discussion and argument that has ever been had in the church and against those outside it.

d.       Jesus died. Jesus, The Second person of the Godhead, died. He was truly human because gods don’t die. But Jesus did.

e.       Jesus rose again, the man Jesus of Nazareth came back to life at the will of God, by His own authority, and in the power of the Holy Spirit. He was truly God because no human comes back from the dead.

f.        The promises made to Jesus in the covenant of redemption, are then applied to His bride in the covenant of grace.

g.       What does this mean?

h.       That what Jesus has been rewarded with by fulfilling His covenant obligations to the Father – has been applied to us by grace.

3.       So, since this is such a rudimentary teaching of the gospel which they should heartily accept, then they must see the next thing Paul teaches as an obvious and true teaching.

4.       So, what is that teaching?

                                                             ii.      Paul says that in the exact same way that Jesus died and rose again, so also, through Jesus’ redemption, the dead will be raised to life and will be brought with Jesus when He returns.

                                                           iii.      Paul already mentioned in chapter three that Christ will bring all His saints with Him when He returns.

                                                           iv.      So how do the dead eventually join the living and how do we come WITH Jesus when He returns if the dead are dead and we are alive. Death and life form a chasm that cannot be easily crossed, right?

c.       [Slide 5] 15 - For we say this to you by a word from the Lord: We who are still alive at the Lord’s coming will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.

                                                               i.      Paul is clearly teaching something new here as he begins this with the assurances that what he is about to say is directly from Jesus’ mouth.

1.       Scholars debate ad-nauseum as to what exact reference Paul is making.

2.       There doesn’t seem to be an exact one to one teaching in the gospels from Christ’s lips.

3.       Some say that this is a collected tradition of Christ’s teachings.

a.       But that is unlikely because that is true of everything Paul taught.

b.       Why would he call it out here specifically as a word from the Lord?

4.       Some say that this may have been something that Christ taught Paul directly when he was “caught up into the third heaven” during his time in the Arabian desert after he was converted in the city of Damascus.

a.       The obvious difficulty here is that if this is true, there is no way to verify it.

b.       Paul alone was caught up, no one was with him.

5.       So, although there is no one to one, perhaps we should look for something that looks close to what Paul says here.

6.       [Slide 6] The closest thing we have is in Matthew 24:30-31. Let’s look at that together.

a.       We see a correlation here to what Jesus said and now what Paul says in this verse and the next.

b.       Still in this text Christ Himself does not overtly teach that the dead in Christ be raised up.

c.       So how would Paul arrive at this interpretation assuming he is referencing this teaching of Christ?

                                                                                                                                       i.      Paul, as we might recall, was a Pharisee.

                                                                                                                                     ii.      A Pharisee believes in miracles, the resurrection, and a strict interpretational philosophy concerning the Word of God.

                                                                                                                                   iii.      And as we learned in our study of Acts, most of the practices and teachings associated with the Pharisees Party are actually compatible with the Christian church.

                                                                                                                                   iv.      A Pharisee’s interpretation of Christ’s words about gathering His elect from the four winds, would include both the living and the dead. Because it must. All the dead have a future resurrection. To life or to second death.  

7.       And perhaps this is what is going on in Thessalonica.

a.       Perhaps Paul taught these words of Jesus to the Thessalonians and either he was not able to fully explain it, or they misunderstood and thought either that the dead in Christ would miss Christ’s return to rule on earth and be raised up later for the final judgment, or perhaps even more dire, they assumed that the dead in Christ would miss everything. Meaning they would not be in the New Kingdom at all.

b.       This would be a blend of the pagan view of the finality and hopelessness of death with the concepts of Christianity.

c.       The second option in particular would be a good explanation for why the Thessalonians were grieving without hope.

d.       If you die before Christ returns – you miss out on the Eternal Kingdom entirely?

e.       Oof. It makes Paul’s later words “to live is Christ and to die is gain” a sad joke.

8.       So, Paul wishes to correct this by further explaining the words of Jesus.

                                                             ii.      [Slide 7] He explains that not only will God bring the dead believers with Him in the same way Christ was resurrected, but also that the living will not go before them. The dead don’t have to catch up to the living.

                                                           iii.      This is already cause for rejoicing.

                                                           iv.      But there is, no doubt, the lingering question of how.

                                                             v.      How will it be possible for Christ to come with all His saints and yet the living not precede the dead in joining Him in the air? What is the sequence of events?  

                                                           vi.      Now Paul quotes Jesus’ words and adds a bit of teaching.

d.       [Slide 8] 16 - For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

                                                               i.      Paul explains that Jesus Himself will descend from heaven, keeping the prediction the angels made when Christ ascended, that he would return in the same way he left.

                                                             ii.      But this time a shout of command, the archangel’s voice and the trumpet of God will accompany His return.

                                                           iii.      This seems to be a very public return. Not a quiet and secret one.

                                                           iv.      This seems to be a return in victory.

                                                             v.      In that moment as the Lord descends, the dead in Christ will rise from the dead.

                                                           vi.      Now Paul doesn’t elaborate on the resurrected bodies being new bodies. He doesn’t give us the mechanics of resurrection. This isn’t the problem he is addressing.

                                                          vii.      It is merely the fact of the resurrection of dead Christians that Paul is pointing out. And the timing of that event is concurrent with the Lord’s return.

                                                        viii.      The shout, the archangel’s voice, and God’s trumpet will literally raise dead Christians to life.

e.       [Slide 9] Summary of the Point: So, Paul desires to convey two concepts of truth regarding those who have died in Christ and their fate in reference to the second coming of Christ. The first point he makes is that the dead in Christ will not be left out. In fact, they will be resurrected. The shout of victory, the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet of God will announce the coming of Christ the Victor, and as He taught, He will gather His elect from the four corners of the world. And the dead in Christ… will rise. Because sleeping believers will not be left out, and will be resurrected at Jesus’ return, we should not grieve their passing without hope.

 

Transition:

[Slide 10 (blank)] So, the dead in Christ will be raised at Jesus’ return. But what is the second point that Paul makes to encourage believers to not grieve their deaths without hope?

 

II.)                The whole Bride of Christ will be snatched up to meet and always be with Him, so we must not grieve without hope.   (17-18)

a.       [Slide 11] 17 - Then we who are still alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

                                                               i.      Paul now turns his attention off of those who have died in Christ and focuses on those who are still among the living.

                                                             ii.      Those who are alive when the Lord returns, who are left will then be caught up together with those who were formerly dead.

                                                           iii.      The word caught up means to be snatched. The idea is not one of action by the one being snatched. It simply happens to them. The Lord comes and snatches up His own from the four winds.

                                                           iv.      All of us are going to meet the Lord in the air… together.

                                                             v.      And it is at this very moment that all of the bride of Christ will assemble together with their Groom and no matter what eschatological system you adhere to, all of them teach the same thing that Paul says here.

                                                           vi.      From that moment on, the bride will never be separated from the groom.

                                                          vii.      We will be with Christ locally and in glorified bodies, forever.

                                                        viii.      So not only will the dead rise at Christ’s return, the living will be snatched up with them to meet Christ in the air and be with Him from that moment onward.

b.       [Slide 12] 18 - Therefore, encourage one another with these words.

                                                               i.      The word “therefore” encompasses the entire teaching that Paul has just relayed.

                                                             ii.      What is that in quick summary?

1.       The dead in Christ will not be left out.

2.       In fact, they will rise first and then with the living, we will all be caught up to meet the Lord in the air and come with Him when He returns to judge and set up His eternal Kingdom.

3.       And from the moment we all meet Him in the clouds – we will never be apart from Him again.

                                                           iii.      Therefore, we do not have to grieve with no hope for those who die.

                                                           iv.      Because we will meet them again, and they will not miss out on the blessings of the eternal kingdom, nor do we have to fear death as though we will miss the kingdom ourselves.

                                                             v.      This is truly a comfort and a peace to us.

                                                           vi.      Death then, has truly lost its sting.

                                                          vii.      Death has died in the death of Christ.

                                                        viii.      Let us rejoice that He has freed us from the tyranny of sin and the finality of death.

                                                            ix.      We are the ones who live. Because Christ lives in us.

c.       [Slide 13] Summary of the Point: And so, Paul brings a second point. Not only will the dead in Christ rise first, but then we all, as one bride, will be snatched up together with Christ in the air and never be separated from Him again. Therefore, we must be holy and not grieve like unbelievers do without hope. There is always hope in Christ.

 

Conclusion:

So, what have we learned today that informs and corrects our beliefs and guides and shapes our lifestyles?

 

Basics of Faith and Practice:

[Slide 14] Paul seeks to correct a misunderstanding in this passage. He does so with new teaching designed to bring comfort and encouragement to the Thessalonian church. Paul teaches that when Jesus returns, at that event the dead in Christ will be resurrected. Not only will they rise, but together with the living, all the elect from the four corners of the world will be snatched up into the air to meet Jesus as He descends. And from that moment, in the air, all the saints of God will never be separated from Christ. With this new information, there is no reason to grieve the death of a believer without hope. Indeed, death is gain for the believer.

 

So, what does all this mean for us as 21st century Christians?

 

1.)    [Slide 15] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” We must affirm that the dead in Christ will be raised at Christ’s return.

a.       Paul is the champion of this teaching, as he writes about it in several of his letters.

b.       But this teaching is not merely Pauline.

c.       John, Peter, the writer of Hebrews, and Jesus Himself talk about a resurrection for all people including believers.

d.       John specifically talks about, what he calls, the first resurrection in Revelation 19. This is when those who have suffered for the name of Christ will be raised to life at Jesus’ return.

e.       All of this tells us that those who are genuine believers, who have received Christ and been united to Him by faith, when they die, it is not the end. When they die, they won’t miss anything the Lord has planned.

f.        Instead, they will be resurrected when the Lord returns and join all the living believers who will be snatched up to be with Christ.

g.       John says, blessed is the one who participates in the first resurrection, because the second death has no power over them.

h.       Blessed indeed!

i.         Hallelujah! What a Savior!

2.)    [Slide 16] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” We must affirm that all of Christ’s Bride will be snatched away together to be with Christ forever.

a.       Not only will dead believers be raised for the glorious coming of Christ – but living believers will no longer be parted from their company or the company of Christ, from that moment on.

b.       Humanity has known one constant since we were forced from the garden of Eden.

c.       The constant of death.

d.       Everything, everyone… dies.

e.       And no one… NO ONE comes back from death.

f.        In the scriptures we are told of a few people who were resurrected from death and a couple people who did not die at all.

g.       But these are the exceptions that prove the rule.

h.       Everyone dies. And no one comes back from death.

i.         But Christ’s death and resurrection changes all of that.

j.         Christ is called the firstborn of the resurrection. He kept the covenant of redemption and was rewarded with the blessings of keeping that covenant, which included His resurrection and ascension to be Lord of all.

k.       And those who are united to Him by the covenant of grace, are also inheritors of His rewards.

l.         We too, will be resurrected.

m.     And because of that, all those who have died in Christ will join us in the air when Christ returns.

n.       They won’t miss a thing.

o.       When Christ comes as a groom for His bride, the dead and the living will go to Him. Even death will not prevent His bride from going to Him. For He will snatch us up.

p.       In what is probably the biggest mic drop moment in human history… A shout of command will sound. The voice of one of the seven archangels will cry out. And God’s royal trumpet of victory will resound. And everyone who belongs to Christ… will go to Him.

q.       And here is the kicker.

r.        From that moment on… We will never know separation from each other or from Christ… EVER AGAIN!

s.        Hallelujah! What a Savior!

3.)    [Slide 17] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don’t naturally do or aren’t currently doing?” We must be holy in how we view death. 

a.       This is the overarching principle that we must observe in this text.

b.       Paul is not establishing an Eschatological system. He is trying to comfort believers who, ultimately, have an inaccurate understanding of death.

c.       Indeed, they see death as final. They see no hope in death.

d.       And so, this one application of being holy in how we view death has two specific applications that comprise it.

e.       One practice we must stop and one practice we must start.

f.        [Slide 18] De-Exhortation: “What actions should we stop doing” or “What behaviors do we naturally practice that this passage tells us to stop doing?” We must stop fearing death if we are genuine Christians.

                                                               i.      We don’t desire death. Survival is a natural instinct that God has programmed into all creatures.

                                                             ii.      We don’t wish to die, and the threat of death is powerful.

                                                           iii.      Death hanging over us changes the way we live.

                                                           iv.      We don’t take unnecessary risks. There is a reason that peace protesters do their protesting on safe soil and not at the front lines of war.

                                                             v.      A healthy survival instinct is good and natural.

                                                           vi.      But, our culture has come to worship death.

                                                          vii.      What I mean by that is that death is a vengeful god that we all try to placate.

                                                        viii.      We offer up our unborn children to it in exchange for comfort and financial peace.

                                                            ix.      We give our money to it to preserve our looks and our bodies.

                                                             x.      We give our time and energy to it to exercise and hold it at bay.

                                                            xi.      The general view of death by westerners is that we should do everything we can to make sure it doesn’t come looking for us.

                                                          xii.      This should NOT be how Christians view death.

                                                        xiii.      We should form our view of death based on what the scriptures teach us about it.

                                                        xiv.      And what do they teach?

1.       Death has lost its sting because of what Christ has purchased for us.

2.       When we are absent from the body in death, we are present with the Lord in life.

3.       For us to live is Christ but to die is gain.

4.       Death is not the end for any man, all will be resurrected.

5.       And ultimately it is not the first death that any man should fear. It is the second death that must be avoided at all costs. Any who join the first resurrection, will not be harmed by the second death.

6.       All of Christ’s bride will be alive and meet Him in the air when He returns. Meaning the dead in Christ… will be raised.

                                                          xv.      Christians do not seek death. We still take steps to preserve our life.

                                                        xvi.      But not at all costs. And not if it forces us to abandon or disobey our King.

                                                       xvii.      Therefore, Christians view death as the last great trial that God has for all of us. The last great suffering that we must endure, before we will suffer… no… more.

                                                     xviii.      Death then… is merely a hurdle in the race that our King has set out before us. And when He jumped over it… He knocked it down. He has made it a guarantee for all His elect, that they will not stay dead.

                                                        xix.      We don’t fear death. But we look with faith and hope at what awaits us behind death’s door.

                                                          xx.      And the second part of having a holy view of death is…

g.       [Slide 19] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don’t naturally do or aren’t currently doing?” We must grieve the death of believers, with hope.

                                                               i.      This passage in no way teaches us that we must not grieve the death of believers.

                                                             ii.      There is a big movement in evangelical circles to replace funerals of believers with memorials celebrating the life and promotion of someone to glory.

                                                           iii.      I believe that this is, unfortunately, a slight overcorrection on our part.

                                                           iv.      It is entirely appropriate to grieve the death of a believer.

                                                             v.      How do I know that?

                                                           vi.      Jesus wept over Lazarus… even though He knew that in a short time He Himself would raise Lazarus from the dead, and would eventually raise Lazarus again when He returned.

                                                          vii.      Even though we know that death is merely a door we must go through in eternal life, it is entirely appropriate for Christians to mourn their loss of another Christian.

                                                        viii.      We can, and should grieve the death of Christians.

                                                            ix.      Why?

                                                             x.      Because death is not natural. Death is a symptom of sin. Both in the world and even in the one who died. Physical death is a constant reminder that mankind… is fallen.

                                                            xi.      We grieve death as a billboard showing us that this is NOT the eternal state. THIS ISN’T HOW IT IS SUPPOSED TO END.

                                                          xii.      But we do so with hope.

                                                        xiii.      Hope of what?

                                                        xiv.      The resurrection and future eternal Kingdom of God.

                                                          xv.      In this way we can celebrate that one day we will see these dead believers again and then, when we see them again, we’ll also be with Jesus and we will never be absent from either ever again.

                                                        xvi.      So we grieve the loss of believers… but with hope that this is merely goodbye for now.

4.)    [Slide 20] Refutation: “What lies must we cast down” or “What do we naturally believe, or have been taught to believe, that this passage shows is false?” We must deny the doctrine of soul sleep.

a.       Seventh Day Adventists and Jehovah’s witnesses take this passage and neglect to do any historical analysis at the idea of sleep. Instead, they read into this a doctrine that is nowhere taught in the scriptures.

b.       The doctrine of soul sleep.

c.       Well what is soul sleep? I’m glad you asked.

d.       Soul sleep is exactly what it says. The idea is that the soul of dead believers enters into a spiritual sleep where their souls unconsciously wait until the Lord returns.

e.       Then they will be awoken and rejoined with their bodies.

f.        Unfortunately, this is not taught in scripture and actually there are some teachings in the scripture which refute this teaching.

g.       The scriptures teach that although the body dies, the soul endures consciously in a specific location.

h.       No matter what the Disney movies say - You can’t keep the dead alive in your heart. They aren’t looking down on you and watching over you. And they aren’t a spirit visiting you either.

i.         The scriptures teach us that the only spirits that are active in this world are angels, devils, and God. All spirits of men are ushered to a place called, Sheol, hades, hell, or the realm of the dead.

j.         And as the New Testament Scriptures teach – those held there have no way out.

k.       And as the Old Testament Scriptures reveal, when a witch, who normally contacts an evil spirit who is a medium between the living and the dead, was successful in conjuring a real spirit from such a place– SHE WAS SHOCKED! She wasn’t expecting the spirit of a once living human. She was expecting something else entirely.

l.         In one sense, the old pagan notion is true. No one escapes from death.

m.     But Jesus did. And he took all His people with Him.

n.       The Apostles’ Creed tells us that Jesus descended into hell.

o.       2 Peter tells us that He did this to preach to the captives. Meaning that Christ went to the realm of the dead to proclaim His victory over death. He then led all the Old Testament saints out of the place called paradise and took them to heaven with Him.

p.       This is why Paul says that we are absent from the body and present with the Lord.

q.       Those who are in Christ inherit the blessing of skipping the realm of the dead to be with God until they are resurrected and reunited with their bodies.

r.        Which means… that the idea of soul sleep is inconsistent with the scriptures.

s.        The scriptures clearly teach us that when we die, what sleeps is our bodies. Not our souls. Our souls, consciously join God in heaven, or consciously endure torment in Sheol.

t.        And all the dead consciously await the day when body and soul will be reunited. The first resurrection to be perfected and to reign with Christ and the second resurrection to be judged and cast into the lake of fire which is the second death.  

5.)    [Slide 21] Comfort: “What comfort can we find here?” or “What peace does the Lord promise us in light of this passage of scripture?” Jesus will not lose a single sheep that the Father has given to Him.

a.       If God is absolutely sovereign over life, death, and the redemption of souls… do we expect Him to allow us to slip into death and through the grasp of Christ?

b.       Can God be surprised by the death of one of His children?

c.       If Death did not keep His Son from Him – what makes us think that death is some unfortunate accident He did not expect or even plan for us.

d.       Every person is appointed to death once. Then to face judgment.

e.       And Jesus said, that of all the sheep that God gave to Him, He will not lose even 1.

f.        Death cannot separate us from the love of God. Indeed, death is gain for those who believe.

g.       Hallelujah! What a Savior!

6.)    [Slide 22] Evangelism: “What about this text points us to Jesus Christ, the gospel, and how we are restored?” Without Christ, you have no hope in death. There is only despair since death is a door to eternal death.

a.       Let me make this abundantly clear.

b.       For believers, death is a necessary door on the path of eternal life.

c.       We are resurrected with Christ’s return and the power of the second death will not touch us.

d.       But for you who are not a follower of Jesus – friend, this life is the best you have. There is nothing else for you.

e.       When you exit this life, your existence becomes one of temporary conscious torment for your soul.

f.        And this temporary torment will only be interrupted by the sudden reuniting of your body and soul. But your eyes will open and behold the Lion of Judah upon His throne in all His glory.

g.       The same King that you rejected in this life, that you mocked, that you ignored, that you said you believed in but never served – that same Jesus will preside over your hearing.

h.       He will call for the books which record all the works of your life whether they are good or evil.

i.         They will all be laid out before you.

j.         And though you were a kind, generous, loving person… none of these good deeds will be enough to make up for what seems like an endless list of counts of treason against a holy God.

k.       The scriptures tell us that everyone who is judged by their works will be found guilty.

l.         Your brief reprieve from torment, to face judgment, will then be over. And you will be cast into what the scriptures describe as the second death. The lake which burns with fire. And so you shall remain in conscious and eternal torment for all eternity.

m.     Why?

n.       Because the body that you were reunited to, was made to endure such agony without ever being consumed.

o.       My friends…  without Christ – you have NO HOPE in death. There is only more death.

p.       I beg you. I plead with you. I appeal to you friend. Turn from your sin. Forsake it. And cry out to God for mercy. That He might apply the benefits of Christ’s obedience to you. That you might be His child.

q.       If this is your desire today – I’d advise you to stop someone, anyone here today and seek their counsel on how to be God’s child.

 

[Slide 23 (end)] Let me close with a prayer by the Puritan Richard Baxter.

 

Send forth your convoy of angels for my departing soul, and let them bring it among the perfect spirits of the just. Let me follow my dear friends that have died in Christ before.

 

And when my friends are crying over my grave, let my spirit be with you in rest.

 

You who numbers the hairs of my head, number all the days that my body lies in the dust.

 

Hasten, O my Savior, the time of your return. Send forth your angels, and let that dreadful, joyful trumpet sound.

 

Do not delay, or the living could give up their hope.

 

Do not delay, or this earth could grow to be like hell, and your church by divisions be crumbled to dust.

 

Do not delay, or your enemies could take advantage of your flock. Or pride, hypocrisy, sensuality, and unbelief could prevail against your remnant, and when you came you might not find faith on the earth.

 

Do not delay, lest the grave should boast of victory.

 

O hasten that great resurrection day, when your command will go forth, and none will disobey.

 

That day when the sea and earth yield up their hostages, and all that sleep in the grave awake, and the dead in Christ arise.

 

That day when the corruptible seed that you sowed comes forth incorruptible.

 

I entrust myself not to a grave, but to you. My flesh will rest in hope, until you raise it to the everlasting rest.

 

Return, O Lord! How long? Let your kingdom come! Your desolate bride says come, for your Spirit within her says come-the one who teaches her to pray with groanings which cannot be expressed.

 

The whole creation says come, waiting to be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

 

And you yourself have said, surely I come. Amen, even, so come, Lord Jesus.

 

We pray this in His name… Amen.

 

Benediction:

May your eyes see the king in his beauty

That you might view a land that stretches afar;

Like Abraham, who looked to a city,

Whose architect and builder is God.

 

Until we meet again, possibly in the clouds, go in peace.]]></description>
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				<title><![CDATA[13 I Thessalonians 4:9-12 Excel in Love]]></title>
				<category>Podcast</category>
				<itunes:author><![CDATA[Christopher C. Freeman]]></itunes:author>
				<itunes:subtitle><![CDATA[Title: Excel in Love

Text: 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12

FCF: We often struggle loving other believers by putting them above our own desires.

Prop: Because God desires us to be holy in our love for other believers, we must excel in love by putting the m...]]></itunes:subtitle>
				<itunes:summary><![CDATA[Title: Excel in Love

Text: 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12

FCF: We often struggle loving other believers by putting them above our own desires.

Prop: Because God desires us to be holy in our love for other believers, we must excel in love by putting the mission of the church before ourselves.

 

Scripture Intro:

[Slide 1] Turn in your bible to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. In a moment we’ll read from the Legacy Standard Bible. You can follow along in the pew bible or in whatever version you prefer.

 

Last week we finished up Paul’s first set of instructions for the church of Thessalonica. The last two chapters revolve around the will of God for His church which is for them to be holy…different… pure.

 

The first way Paul teaches them to be holy is in their sexual ethic.

 

Today, Paul will move on to another way that the church can be holy. Although the topic of mutual Christian love is not a new topic, some of the particular applications Paul has in mind for showing love to the church may be surprising.

 

Please stand with me to give honor to and focus on the Word of God as it is read.

 

Invocation:

Lord of heaven, You are loving and merciful. You have carved out of the death of sin a people for Your own. You have turned wretches into royalty. And You have taught us to love one another. I pray that You would be among us today and teach us anew what it means to love one another. That we would be unlike any other group or organization on earth in that we truly love one another. Teach us these things from Your word we pray this in Jesus’ name… Amen.

 

Transition:

[Slide 2] “Love is not only full of benevolence but beneficence. Love which enlarges the heart never straitens the hand.” Thomas Watson

 

“Love not merely does seek that which does not belong to it; it is prepared to give up for the sake of others even what it is entitled to.” C.K. Barrett

 

“Love for the brethren is far more than an agreeable society whose views are the same.” A.W. Pink

 

“Christian love is not the victim of our emotions but the servant of our will.” John R. W. Stott

 

Keep these ideas in your mind as we look to the text this morning.

 

I.)                  God desires His children to be holy in our love for one another, so we must excel in love for other believers.

a.       [Slide 3] 9 - Now concerning love of the brothers,

                                                               i.      Paul makes a clear subject break here.

                                                             ii.      In chapter 3 Paul’s benediction hoped for them to abound in love toward one another and for all people.

                                                           iii.      As we said before, the benediction was really a foreshadowing of Paul’s teaching he would express in the next two chapters.

                                                           iv.      We also know that this must be somehow related to being holy or set apart or different.

                                                             v.      So, it is good for us to conclude that all of this is interconnected.

b.       [Slide 4] you have no need for anyone to write to you,

                                                               i.      In a somewhat unexpected turn, Paul introduces the subject matter and then immediately commends them....]]></itunes:summary>
				<description><![CDATA[Title: Excel in Love

Text: 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12

FCF: We often struggle loving other believers by putting them above our own desires.

Prop: Because God desires us to be holy in our love for other believers, we must excel in love by putting the mission of the church before ourselves.

 

Scripture Intro:

[Slide 1] Turn in your bible to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. In a moment we’ll read from the Legacy Standard Bible. You can follow along in the pew bible or in whatever version you prefer.

 

Last week we finished up Paul’s first set of instructions for the church of Thessalonica. The last two chapters revolve around the will of God for His church which is for them to be holy…different… pure.

 

The first way Paul teaches them to be holy is in their sexual ethic.

 

Today, Paul will move on to another way that the church can be holy. Although the topic of mutual Christian love is not a new topic, some of the particular applications Paul has in mind for showing love to the church may be surprising.

 

Please stand with me to give honor to and focus on the Word of God as it is read.

 

Invocation:

Lord of heaven, You are loving and merciful. You have carved out of the death of sin a people for Your own. You have turned wretches into royalty. And You have taught us to love one another. I pray that You would be among us today and teach us anew what it means to love one another. That we would be unlike any other group or organization on earth in that we truly love one another. Teach us these things from Your word we pray this in Jesus’ name… Amen.

 

Transition:

[Slide 2] “Love is not only full of benevolence but beneficence. Love which enlarges the heart never straitens the hand.” Thomas Watson

 

“Love not merely does seek that which does not belong to it; it is prepared to give up for the sake of others even what it is entitled to.” C.K. Barrett

 

“Love for the brethren is far more than an agreeable society whose views are the same.” A.W. Pink

 

“Christian love is not the victim of our emotions but the servant of our will.” John R. W. Stott

 

Keep these ideas in your mind as we look to the text this morning.

 

I.)                  God desires His children to be holy in our love for one another, so we must excel in love for other believers.

a.       [Slide 3] 9 - Now concerning love of the brothers,

                                                               i.      Paul makes a clear subject break here.

                                                             ii.      In chapter 3 Paul’s benediction hoped for them to abound in love toward one another and for all people.

                                                           iii.      As we said before, the benediction was really a foreshadowing of Paul’s teaching he would express in the next two chapters.

                                                           iv.      We also know that this must be somehow related to being holy or set apart or different.

                                                             v.      So, it is good for us to conclude that all of this is interconnected.

b.       [Slide 4] you have no need for anyone to write to you,

                                                               i.      In a somewhat unexpected turn, Paul introduces the subject matter and then immediately commends them.

                                                             ii.      This shouldn’t be too much of a shock though. Paul has already commended them for their love for one another in chapter 1 and it was part of Timothy’s report about them in chapter 3.

                                                           iii.      But once again, Paul refuses to praise them directly for their good works.

                                                           iv.      According to Paul, what is the reason that they do not have to be written to concerning love for other believers?

c.       [Slide 5] for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another,

                                                               i.      Paul no doubt makes reference to Old Testament prophets such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, who prophesied about a day when the Spirit of God would write the law of God on the hearts of His people.

                                                             ii.      In that day, the prophets said, a person would not have to be taught the Lord’s law by anyone because God would put in on their hearts.

                                                           iii.      Paul firmly believes that this has already been fulfilled in the coming of Christ and the granting of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

                                                           iv.      In a sense then, the kingdom of God has come. It isn’t here fully and completely – but many end-times-predictions from the Old Testament have come true since Christ’s birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension.

                                                             v.      Part of that is this spiritual teaching of God’s law for those who have received the Holy Spirit.

                                                           vi.      Now Paul says that he doesn’t need to write to them, in the sense that he doesn’t need to inform them of what they should do, because God has already impressed this upon them at their conversion.

                                                          vii.      John the apostle essentially says this, but in another way – he says, “If a man says he loves God but hates his brother he is a liar.”

                                                        viii.      Being a believer assumes the reality of a genuine love for other believers.

                                                            ix.      But how does Paul know that they have been taught these things by God?

d.       [Slide 6] 10 - for indeed you do practice it toward all the brothers who are in all Macedonia.

                                                               i.      And here is the perfect balance between faith and works.

                                                             ii.      God’s gift of Faith unites us to Christ and all the covenant benefits of His atonement.

                                                           iii.      We do not need to work to earn these covenantal promises because it was a covenant made between God the Father and His Son.

                                                           iv.      However, one thing we know must be true… is that works must follow genuine faith.

                                                             v.      This is what justifies us before men and before one another.

                                                           vi.      In this way, Paul knows that God has gifted these Thessalonians the knowledge of His love and he knows that they are genuine believers because he sees them practice this love toward all the believers… even those who are not from their city.

                                                          vii.      So, since the Thessalonians don’t need to be taught anything… Since God taught them to love one another already… Since they are doing it…

                                                        viii.      Paul is done… Right?

e.       [Slide 7] But we urge you, brothers, to excel still more,

                                                               i.      There is a brand of Christianity that teaches that we are able to live sinlessly and perfectly in this life if we achieve a certain spiritual maturity.

                                                             ii.      Paul’s words here seem to indicate that the life of a believer never stops maturing.

                                                           iii.      If they are doing well. If they are an example for everyone to follow. If Paul commends them and doesn’t need to teach them about loving each other…

                                                           iv.      But still wants them to do better. To excel. To abound at loving others…

                                                             v.      We can reasonably conclude that we will always be striving to live more and more like Christ.

                                                           vi.      From there it isn’t too far of a leap for us to conclude that we will not reach perfection in this life.

                                                          vii.      But we do look forward to the day when Christ will present us faultless before the throne of God.

f.        [Slide 8] Summary of the Point: Paul begins this next section teaching on other relationships besides those of an intimate nature. Specifically, those relationships inside the church. God’s desire is for us to be holy, different, pure, and set apart in how we treat others who claim the name of Christ. Paul’s application is somewhat stunted by the fact that he doesn’t actually need to teach them to do this. First, because they have been taught this by God Himself, and second because they are currently practicing loving one another. Of course, Paul, having a pastor’s heart, always sees room for growth in himself and in the hearts of those in his charge. And so, he commands them to excel all the more in love. To abound in love toward believers. A command we should heed too.

 

Transition:

[Slide 9 (blank)] But how exactly does Paul expect them to excel in loving other believers. Well, Paul has a few commands he will give to ensure that this will happen.

 

II.)                God desires His children to be holy in our love for one another, so we must have a good reputation with outsiders and provide for our own needs.

a.       [Slide 10] 11 - and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life

                                                               i.      Paul’s benediction at the end of chapter 3 helps us to determine what he intends with this next point.

                                                             ii.      In the benediction he asked that the Lord would cause their love for one another and for all men to abound all the more.

                                                           iii.      And, of course, he has already opened the topic of love for their fellow Christian brothers and sisters, and has commended them and commanded them to excel in this area.

                                                           iv.      So, we can make a reasonable guess that this has to do with the cardinal Christian virtue of love.

                                                             v.      However, until verse 12, we don’t get a lot of clarity on how exactly these three commands are about love or to whom the love is directed.

                                                           vi.      So, although it is a bit unconventional, let me unpack verse 12 first, before we get to verse 11.

b.       [Slide 11] 12 - so that you will walk properly toward outsiders and not be in any need.

                                                               i.      Paul presents two results or purposes for the commands he issues in verse 11.

                                                             ii.      The first purpose is that they would walk properly toward outsiders.

1.       What exactly is an outsider?

2.       Paul is talking about those outside the church. Those Thessalonians who are not believers, perhaps even those Thessalonians who are afflicting them.

3.       But in spite of this affliction and opposition from outsiders, Paul sets his aim on the church walking or living properly toward them. Paul desires that they have a good reputation among unbelievers in the city of Thessalonica.

4.       Although Paul’s topic is certainly focusing on loving other believers, having a good reputation with unbelievers would be one way to excel in their love for all men. In that the church is not a nuisance but contributes to society in a profitable way.

5.       Of course, having a good reputation with outsiders is also an act of love toward other believers.

6.       Even if only a few of them are found to have difficult or volatile relationships with unbelievers in Thessalonica, this will reflect poorly on all who wear Christ’s name and may incur repercussions on the entire church.

7.       It will also have a negative impact on the church’s gospel witness.

8.       So, one result of the three commands Paul will give will be to keep a good reputation of the church to unbelievers, as a way of love for Christians and non-Christians alike.

                                                           iii.      The second purpose that they obey the commands from verse 11 is that they not be in any need.

1.       The word need refers to anything that is necessary to live that is lacking.

2.       This basically would be Paul hoping that if they obey the commands from verse 11, they would not experience any poverty or be destitute.

3.       This would certainly show love toward their fellow believers in that they are not a financial burden to them.

4.       The early church is frequently seen giving sacrificially and cheerfully to alleviate poverty among their own members. By providing for yourself, if you are able, you lessen the financial burden on the whole body. This is brotherly love.

                                                           iv.      So now that we know what the results of following these commands would be and how that would contribute to their love excelling primarily toward other believers and even some to outsiders…

                                                             v.      All that remains is to connect the commands to the expected results.

                                                           vi.      So, what is Paul’s first command or exhortation to the Thessalonian church that will lead to a good reputation with outsiders and not being in any need? 

c.       [Slide 12] 11 - and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life

                                                               i.      This is somewhat of a paradoxical expression on Paul’s part.

                                                             ii.      To have ambition to be quiet seems counter to each other. Like whisper screaming or hard water. These are expressions that make sense, but on the surface seem contrary to each other.

                                                           iii.      So, Paul commands them to have as their cherished goal, their prize, their ambition… to lead a quiet life.

                                                           iv.      What could Paul mean by a quiet life?

1.       Well certainly he doesn’t mean that they should blend in and pretend to be like everyone else. That is the opposite of being holy. And he has already said that God’s plan is for them to be holy. To be different. To be set apart.

2.       He can’t mean that they should stay silent in that they do not talk about Jesus or share the gospel with their friends and neighbors. Paul doesn’t have the authority to usurp Christ’s command to make disciples. In fact, Paul already commended them in chapter 1 for the report that the Word of the Lord was going forth from them to all of Macedonia and Achaia.

3.       Paul must mean for the Thessalonians to live a life free from commotion, conflict, or disruption. In Romans Paul says, “insofar as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.” They must live a life of peace and order.

4.       But what is prompting this command?

5.       In the second letter to the Thessalonians Paul will bring up a certain group of church members who were going about causing public commotions, stirring up conflicts, and generally disrupting the peace.

6.       They were also meddling in other believer’s affairs and gossiping, and of course they had time to do all this because they had stopped working and were mooching off the church for their needs.  

7.       He calls them idle busybodies.

8.       Here, we have the precursor to those stronger words in 2 Thessalonians.

9.       Paul is commanding the church to be a peaceful, quiet, and orderly people.

                                                             v.      So how would fulfilling this command accomplish the goals of having a good reputation with outsiders and make sure they are not in need?

1.       It is almost impossible to have a good reputation with outsiders when you are constantly causing public commotions, disruptions, or conflicts.

a.       This command would even forbid them from retaliating or fighting back against those outsiders who seek to afflict them.

b.       Positively it also means for them to strive for peace with outsiders… even if they do not become believers.

c.       And even within the church - fighting, squabbling, or being contentious toward other believers, would inevitably cause the reputation of the church to be tarnished with outsiders.  

d.       Paul’s exhortation is for them to deny themselves retribution or revolution, both in the city of Thessalonica and within the Thessalonian church.

e.        That they instead lead a peaceful and orderly life.

2.       And leading a quiet life inevitably leads to a stable way of providing for yourself.

a.       Going around causing public commotions, disruptions, or conflicts takes time and energy.

b.       And if you have a job that you work at to provide for yourself, the time and energy necessary for these ornery tasks – is simply not available.

c.       Being ambitious for a quiet life leads to simple things like earning a paycheck and taking care of your own needs.

d.       [Slide 13] and attend to your own business

                                                               i.      What does this expression mean?

1.       Ironically this Greek idiom is very similar to our idiom of similar wording.

2.       Mind your own business.

3.       Although in English it does inherit a sharper meaning than Paul probably intends.

4.       Again, reflecting on the small group of idle busybodies within the church, Paul calls on all of them to keep themselves from gossip, nosiness, dissension, stirring up strife, and generally causing problems.

5.       Instead, they are to mind their own business. Stay in their lane. And be busy with things that actually concern them.

                                                             ii.      So how does this command produce the results of a good reputation before outsiders and that they are not in need?

1.       In one sense, this seems more obviously connected to the first result. Having a good reputation with outsiders is not being a busy body and putting your nose and your opinions in matters that aren’t really of your concern.

a.       This could include both matters in the church and outside the church.

b.       Outsiders would look on a busy body within the church as well as a busy body in the city, with the same level of contempt.

2.       They would not only think negatively about that person not minding their own business, but also it would reflect poorly on the whole church and the gospel of Christ.

                                                           iii.      However, this command is easily related to making sure their needs are met as well.

1.       What does someone need if they are going to be a busy body?

2.       They need time.

a.       Time to poke into things they don’t belong in.

b.       Time to spread rumors.

c.       Time to gossip.

d.       Time to stir up strife.

e.       Time to cause dissension.

3.       If someone doesn’t have time to do these things because they are too busy focusing on the things they have to do, then they won’t have to worry about being involved in things that do not concern them.

4.       What is one way to make sure that you don’t have time for being a busy body?

5.       If you worked to provide for yourself.

                                                           iv.      This is certainly where Paul goes with the next command and we should note that idleness and being a busy body go hand in hand.

1.       In I Timothy 5 Paul makes this casual connection between idleness and being a busy body. And some proverbs come close to saying this too by informing a person who pursues empty things that they must be satisfied with poverty.

2.       One sure fire way to be in need, is to be busy about other people’s business.

e.       [Slide 14] and work with your hands, just as we commanded you,

                                                               i.      As we’ve already discussed, in 2 Thessalonians Paul will deal with certain individuals in the church who were not only busybodies, causing problems and sticking their nose where it didn’t belong, but they were also willingly unemployed even though they were able to work.

                                                             ii.      We’ll address the reasons for why they were doing that when we get to 2 Thessalonians.

                                                           iii.      But one point we do need to mention from 2 Thessalonians, is that not only were these idle busybodies not working – they were being supported by the church.

                                                           iv.      Paul’s command here is that everyone in the church, who is able, work with their hands.

                                                             v.      The results of this are twofold.

                                                           vi.      First, if they work with their hands they will have a good reputation with outsiders.

1.       Most likely, the vast majority of the Thessalonian church were artisan workers.

2.       And although having one of these jobs and working with your hands would not garner much respect from outsiders, certainly being a laze-a-bout and a mooch would be viewed poorly by outsiders.

3.       This could potentially damage not only the church’s reputation but even the gospel.

4.       If I were a wealthy outsider, why would I want to be part of a community where my money was going to support people, who although they could work, chose not to?

                                                          vii.      Second, if they work with their hands, they will not be in need.

1.       There is a great impact on the church when some or many of its members cannot, or will not, earn a living for themselves.

2.       The Roman empire had no welfare system in place for those out of work or unable to earn a living.

3.       It was generally viewed as the family’s responsibility to care for those who could not care for themselves.

4.       And if your family was unable, there were few if any other options besides relying on the charity of others.

5.       The church, however, did have a system in place to care for its own in poverty or suffering trial.

6.       Through the sacrificial and benevolent giving of the church, the poor among them would not be left destitute.

7.       We see this not only in local assemblies but even churches hundreds of miles away, sending relief to churches experiencing financial hardship.

8.       Paul’s command then, is to lessen the burden on the church so they can care for the truly destitute because those who can work, do, and provide for their own needs.

                                                        viii.      And, of course, Paul reveals once again that these commands are not new. They have commanded these things or things like these commands before when they were with them.

                                                            ix.      Following these three commands is the path to having a good reputation with outsiders and not having needs among the congregation. This will be one way that they can excel in love toward other believers and it is also a way they could show love to outsiders too.

f.        [Slide 15] Summary of the Point: Paul’s point endures from the early verses of chapter 4. God’s desire is that His people be different. That they be pure. That they be holy. One way they can be holy is by having a good reputation with unbelievers and having as few members in need as possible. These effects will cause their love for one another to excel and even love toward unbelievers to be fostered. But the path to these effects is through the commands to live a peaceful and quiet life, attending to your own business and caring for your own needs. So, we too must seek to have a good reputation with outsiders and not be in need.

 

Conclusion:

So CBC, what have we learned today that informs and corrects our beliefs and shapes and guides our lifestyles?

 

Broad Concepts of Faith and Practice:

[Slide 16] God is not merely concerned that His people be different in their sexual ethic. He is concerned that they be different in all their relationships. And specifically, in their relationship with one another. The Second Person of the Godhead said that the world will know that we are His disciples by our love for other believers. This command is connected to our role of being salt and light in the world. Paul then gives two results that will facilitate more love for believers and help to accomplish the mission of the church. First, that we have a good reputation with outsiders and second that we provide for our own needs. We can accomplish all this through leading a peaceful and orderly life, minding our own business, and working to provide for our own needs.

 

Of course, this leads us to much more specific applications for our daily 21st century lives.

 

1.)    [Slide 17] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” We must affirm that God’s will is for us to be holy in our love toward other believers.

a.       The church is not a social club. It is not a homeschool group. It is not a hang out.

b.       The church is a supernaturally created and sustained body of believers who have undergone the miracle of salvation and are continuing to undergo the miracle of progressive conformity to Jesus Christ the Second person of the Godhead.

c.       This conformity is propelled by the third person of the Godhead, The Holy Spirit. And is superintended by the first person of the Godhead, God The Father.

d.       Because the church is completely different from every other human organization, group, society, or culture – we should expect the way the church loves each other would also be… different.

e.       What we see in this passage in particular is a commitment to love the church body enough to deny selfish and fleshly impulses which might negatively impact the mission of the church.

f.        If the church as a whole is financially desperate, it inhibits the church’s ability to execute its mission.

g.       If the church as a whole is disrespected and despised by outsiders due to non-gospel related practices, the church’s ability to execute its mission is… inhibited.

h.       Any other group in the world, we might easily part ways over preferences or passions. But the body of Christ must be put ahead of both. To love other believers is to be willing to forgo preferences and passions in order to remain united and focused on the mission.

i.         This is what it means to be holy in our love toward the church.

j.         But this passage is quite heavy on things we are commanded to do. The first of these is…

2.)    [Slide 18] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don’t naturally do or aren’t currently doing?” We must excel in love for one another by living a peaceful and orderly life.

a.       In our culture, in a nation born from revolution, we have a common and mostly harmless affinity toward fighting for change.

b.       We don’t like being told what to do. We don’t like being pushed around. And we certainly know that we can always revolt or retreat if things don’t go the way we think it should.

c.       I don’t think this passage is telling us that we must disengage from politics. I don’t think this passage is telling us that we cannot be involved in the government of our nation. I don’t think this passage is telling us to never disagree with government or even church leadership.

d.       But I do think Paul is insisting that Christians think long and hard about what impact their actions may have on the mission of the church.

e.       How could we show greater love to the church?

f.        Is picking a fight over every social issue really helping the church stay on mission?

g.       Is causing commotion, stirring up fights, or disrupting the peace really contributing to the gospel going out?

h.       Is constantly raising armies against leadership for their decisions really promoting a gospel of God’s love and peace?

i.         Obviously, there are times to draw the line. The apostles knew this. That is why when the chief priests told them to stop preaching in the name of Jesus, they REPECTFULLY declined.

j.         But did you notice what they submitted to while declining to follow the command? They submitted to being punished for it.

k.       This is the way we live a peaceful and quiet life.

l.         We don’t seek out commotion, disruption, or stirring up trouble. In fact, we make it our ambition… to be peaceful and orderly. We are only roused from this by egregious decisions that go against the clear commands of God.

m.     This is true in the civil sphere and it is true in the church too.

n.       But some Christians are always ready to fight. Some Christians are always ready to go to war and die on hills that are 1 foot high.

o.       This is detrimental to the mission of the church. And ultimately, it is unloving to the body of Christ. We have made it more difficult for our brothers and sisters because of our willingness to always go to war.

3.)    [Slide 19] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don’t naturally do or aren’t currently doing?” We must excel in love for one another by minding our own business.

a.       My oh my this is a big one.

b.       Curiosity is a powerful thing, isn’t it?

c.       We desire to be in the know. And not because we can do anything to help. Just because we want to know the juicy details.

d.       Knowledge is like a badge of honor. We wear it with pride.

e.       “Oh you haven’t heard about that? I’ve known for months.”

f.        Busybodies. Quiet whispers in the corner passing information one revelation at a time.

g.       Nosiness asking questions about things that they can’t do anything to help.

h.       My friends, in the church and in the civil square – do yourself and the church a favor – and mind your own business.

i.         Before you ask for details, or give details away, do some asking of yourself.

j.         “Do I really need to know this?”

k.       “If I discover what is going on, am I the right person to help?”

l.         “Does this actually concern me?”

m.     “Does this benefit the mission of the church if I know about this?”

n.       “Does this information need to be shared to other people?”

o.       “Is this person I’m about to share this information with in a position to do something about it?”

p.       “Am I sharing this information to be a help or just to pass it along?”

q.       “In sharing this information, am I violating the will of God for my life to be holy?”

r.        “Would it really be the end of the world if I remained ignorant on this issue?”

s.        “How does my knowing this or telling this show love to the body of Christ as a whole?”

t.        These are just a few examples of things you can ask yourself before you get involved in something that isn’t your business.

4.)    [Slide 20] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don’t naturally do or aren’t currently doing?” We must excel in love for one another by working.

a.       Man was made to work.

b.       God put Adam in the garden and tasked him with cultivating and keeping it.

c.       In the New Kingdom we will reign with Christ, exercising dominion over the New earth.

d.       Paul famously says in 2 Thessalonians that if you do not work, then you do not eat.

e.       This is the standard God has set for His people. We should not be mooches. We should not be living off of what others provide when we could provide for ourselves.

f.        In our society the government does have social programs to help those who are destitute.

g.       But there are actually three layers of government that God has created to help keep sin in check and promote the kingdom work.

h.       The family, the church, and civil government.

i.         We are told in the scriptures that if a man doesn’t provide for his family, he is worse than an unbeliever – because even wicked fathers know how to give good gifts to their children.

j.         The church both by example and command are to care for one another in our needs.

k.       I say this to encourage us to understand that just because the government has programs to help with financially destitute people – we ought to see that as a pretty bad thing.

l.         What it means is that families have failed to care for their own. It also means that churches have either failed to care for their own members or that many who are destitute are not believers.

m.     You should work to earn a living to care for your needs and the needs of your family.

n.       You should work to earn a living to care for your needs and the needs of other believers who are suffering hardship.

o.       You should work to earn a living to care for you own needs and to generously and selflessly give to the mission of the church.

p.       Our church has a benevolent fund that we use to help those in need. We have two homes we use to help those who are in need of shelter – which frequently require maintenance and upkeep.

q.       And all of these things are sustained by sacrificial and selfless giving of time, money, and energy by… well… you.

r.        In fact, everything we do here is sustained and supported by your sacrificial and selfless giving.

s.        We have 31 families in our church that are members. Our budget for 2026, not including our mission fund or our benevolent fund, is set to $151,032. A budget that is not extravagant by any means. We aren’t supporting large programs and doing big mailers or anything like that.

t.        That means that each family would need to give $4,872 this year for us to make budget. That is around $400 a month or about $94 a week.

u.       Of course, some would be able to give more than this and others less.

v.       But… when you drop $10 in the plate every couple weeks, when you could financially afford more… that is going to put undue pressure on other members here to make up for it. And it isn’t being overly loving to your brothers and sisters to do that.

w.     For those who are members here- you know me. You know that I never talk about money. somewhat of a conflict of interest to do so – since it is by your selfless and sacrificial giving… that I am paid.

x.       But occasionally we get to things like this in the scripture, and in those times, I must make the appeal for you to consider your love for other believers.

y.       Our church, our missionaries, our benevolence cannot continue without your sacrificial giving. Giving borne from working with your hands to make sure you are not in need, your family is not in need, and that you can generously give to the work of the church.  

z.       So, work hard, earn a living, so that you can show love to your brothers and sisters and further the mission of the church with your sacrificial gifts.

5.)    [Slide 21] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don’t naturally do or aren’t currently doing?” We must excel in love for one another by having a good reputation with unbelievers.

a.       The necessary caveat here is of course that unbelievers will generally hate us because we follow Christ and call the lifestyles they cherish… sin.

b.       They will despise us because we consider it loving to call them to repentance and to trust Christ and follow Him to the forsaking of all other gods.

c.       That being said – it is not loving to the church nor is it helpful to its mission when we tarnish the reputation of the church for non-gospel or mission related reasons.

d.       If they are already going to despise us for our gospel mission, the worst thing we could do is give them more to despise us for because we are infighting, stirring up trouble, fleecing each other, being lazy, or otherwise not contributing positively to society.

e.       Instead, we should be hard workers, living quiet lives, and seeing to our own affairs and not meddling.

f.        We are not of the world, but are certainly still in it. Therefore, we must love the church, its mission, and its impact on the world by having a good reputation with the unbelieving world.

g.       Let us only be despised because of the gospel we preach.

h.       Which leads to the comfort of this passage…

6.)    [Slide 22] Comfort: “What comfort can we find here?” or “What peace does the Lord promise us in light of this passage of scripture?” We are a light and testimony to the world when we love one another.

a.       Paul’s vision is clear.

b.       The church should be a bastion of love, mercy, kindness, selflessness, care, protection, honor, and grace.

c.       Yet so often… churches fail this in every point.

d.       Churches are run like businesses. They are managed like social clubs. They are governed like democracies.

e.       If they are salt and light – they have lost their savor and hid their light under a bushel.

f.        Jesus threatens in Revelation to take the lampstands away from churches which fail to keep the mission of the church intact.

g.       And that threat is true for all local assemblies today too.

h.       Churches close up every year. In one respect we can mourn this. But studies have been done and books have been written to give insight to the common reasons that churches die.

i.         And you know what it boils down to?

j.         Sin. A lack of holiness. That local assembly has lost the mission.

k.       Paul’s words of warning here are to help the Thessalonians love each other and be the church that God desires.

l.         CBC, we must be this kind of church too. We must be a testimony and light to the world. And one of the primary ways we do that is when we excel in our love for one another.

m.     To love one another then – we cannot be selfishly motivated or give in to whatever we feel like doing. We must put the mission and reputation of the church – even ahead of our own desires.

7.)    [Slide 23] Evangelism: “What about this text points us to Jesus Christ, the gospel, and how we are restored?” The church is made of people who are different. We were made this way. Remade… this way.

a.       The church is a group of people who were dead in their sins. We were slaves to our lusts. We were children of our father the devil. We belonged to the line of the serpent. We were born as inheritors of the sin of Adam.

b.       We didn’t know God. We didn’t want God. We didn’t need God.

c.       We did not become sinners because we sinned… but began sinning because we were already sinners.

d.       Then God washed us with the water of regeneration. He opened our eyes and gave us new hearts. At that moment we saw, for the first time, what we had never sought. The truth of His holiness, our wretchedness, and the sacrificial substitution of Christ to die for our sin and remake us into something holy…  something that progressively looks more and more like Him.

e.       And the love with which He loved us… has now been taught to us so we can love each other in the same sacrificial and selfless way.

f.        When the church… is the church… even unbelievers have to recognize that something is different about us.

g.       If you sense the call of God on your heart now… to join this thing called the church. To be His child. To forsake your sin and follow Him… Then I’d recommend you stop an Elder before you leave and tell them. We’d be happy to show you how to follow Jesus.

 

[Slide 24 (end)] Let me close with a prayer by the reformer John Bradford.

 

Holy, righteous, and wise one. Mighty, terrible, and fearful Lord God. Judge of all and governor of all the world. Patient and gracious Father, whose eyes are upon our ways...

 

Wash us from our wickedness and pour out your Holy Spirit upon us. Take from us our hard hearts, our stony hearts, our unrepentant hearts, our distrusting and doubtful hearts. Take our carnal, our secure, our idle and foolish hearts. Take away our impure, arrogant, envious, impatient, covetous hearts.

 

Give us new hearts instead: soft hearts, faithful hearts, merciful hearts. Obedient, pure, holy hearts. True, simple, lowly, and penitent hearts. Give us hearts to fear and trust you forever. Write your law in our hearts, graft it in our minds.

 

Grant us a spirit of prayer and make us diligent and happy in what you give us to do. Take our souls and bodies into custody forever. Take our lives and all that we have, and give us whatever you know we need. Guide us always as your children, so our lives and our deaths will praise you through Jesus Christ.

 

We pray for ourselves, but also for others-those in exile or in prison, in misery or heaviness, in poverty or sickness.

 

If it is your will, send your holy word and faith among us in this place and this country once again. Turn the hearts of those who speak against us. Have mercy on our families and fellow believers, our neighbors and those whose lives you have linked to ours.

 

And for those here gathered in your holy name, grant your blessing and Holy Spirit to dwell in us and set us apart. Keep us as your children, today and forever. Keep us from all evil for your glory, our good, and for the good of the church. Strengthen those who stand, so they do not fall. Lift up those who have fallen, and keep us from falling, through Jesus Christ, our Lord and only Savior, who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, and to whom be all praise and honor, now and forever, Amen.

 

Benediction:

To you who are debtors to mercy alone

And free from the terrors of the law.

Walk in the light, as he is in the light, so that the blood of Jesus, God's Son, purifies you from all sin.

 

Until we meet again, go in peace.]]></description>
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