Being a Christian means receiving grace from our Lord. What is grace? Grace is God's unmerited favor. We can never earn it; He gives it to us because He wants to. In fact, while we were sinners and enemies towards God, the Lord Jesus died for us; and His grace flows down to us! He is the Fountain of grace. He knows all the bad things in our lives, and yet He still gives us the living water of His grace -- just as He did for the woman at the well (John 4). And this grace transforms our lives! Christ's grace to us enables us to show grace to others, and to share it with our families. He is all that we need!
Jesus has drawn us into a family relationship with one another, and He desires that we pray for one another. This requires an investment of time; we need to get to enjoy fellowship and get to know one another so that we know how to pray for each other. Christ desires that we should not be partial towards any of our brothers or sisters, by interacting with or greeting only those whom we like.
Here Paul also reminds his readers to make sure that his Epistle is read to all the people in the church at Thessalonica. This is a reminder to us that we are to be "people of the Book," who hear and love God's Word. The reading of the Word is part of our worship. In its pages, life is found. In the Gospel, we find comfort in times of trouble!
Let's pray for grace so that our church may be one that clearly manifests the practice of prayer, love among the brethren, and a focus on the Scriptures.
One of these days, sooner or later, every single one of us will die and be faced with the judgment. What if, when we came to that time, God asked us why He should let us into heaven? The only answer is because of the Lord Jesus Christ! We are imperfect, and we always will be as long as we live in this world; and God cannot stand unholy things. However, because of the perfect life and sacrifice of Christ, He has now declared us to be holy! And naturally, He desires for us to live in a holy manner now. For the rest of our lives, we will be living in a state of "spiritual renovation" -- and that is more than just outward changes! We must cling to the cross of Christ, and not our own self-righteousness. Our God is faithful and unchangeable, and He will never go back on His Word.
We cannot complain about feeling distant from the Lord when we are living in willful sin. John Owen once said that we must be serious about putting our sin to death, or our sin will end up putting us to death. There are many things that we must be on guard against – such as an unforgiving spirit, or a bad attitude or lack of interest in the Scriptures – because they quench the Holy Spirit.
Paul also warns his readers to not despise prophecy, but to be sure to test all things. The people of God had been without prophecy or direct communication from Him for over 400 years; but at the time that Paul was writing, the Word of God was beginning to come again through the pens of His inspired writers. Yet we are reminded to search the Scriptures and verify that the teaching we are being given – particularly about the Lord Jesus – is in alignment with what God has already revealed to us. If we fail to do this, we will end up testing what we hear by our own subjective standards and preferences; and that can eventually lead to the dangerous practice of forsaking the assembly of the saints because no church is "pure enough" for our preferences.
We must pray for grace to hold on to what is good, so that we may abstain from every kind of evil and resemble Christ. And when trials come, we must go to God's Word, so that we do not quench the Holy Spirit that He pours out upon us so that we may do good.
These words are true in all situations, and the only strength that we have to carry them out is from the Lord. The Apostle Paul desires that all of Christ's people may rejoice in all things -- even things that seem to be trivial. He wants us to pray without ceasing, for the Father hears us and is ready and willing to help us. It is good for us to pray in a spirit of thanksgiving for the good times that we enjoy, and we should certainly ask Him for help in bad and difficult times. We can pray for comfort of soul when we are in seasons of trouble, and we can rest assured that Jesus is interceding and advocating for us. But we must not forget that there is always something that we can give thanks for! How often do we thank the Lord for something? Usually not enough! The daily humdrum of our lives often lulls us to sleep. We need to turn our eyes to God alone, and ask for His grace to help us rejoice and pray and give thanks -- even if things aren't always going the way we want them to!
As a young church developing in Thessalonica God was blessing them with a particular gift, leadership. God had given the church elders to lead the people of God. As the king of his church God has ordained a structure for governance. Here Paul tells the church to respect their leaders, to esteem them in love, and to live at peace with one another.
If someone says that they know the date of Christ's return, they're a blasphemer and a heretic. We, as Christ's people, don't need to worry about the exact date; we need to take heed of being duped by false prophets who pretend to know such things. Jesus told His disciples to be busy sharing the Gospel until He comes back. He declared that His servants who are thus busy working when He returns are blessed. He desires us to stay away from all deeds of darkness, and to be watchful against a sleepy spirit of complacency. Of course, this is contrary to what the world tells us, as they encourage us to "live our best life now." But we are not appointed for wrath, as the people of this world are; we are appointed to salvation, through Christ Who died for us! Hence we have an obligation to act and speak soberly, and to put on the armor of God -- living a life of preparation for our Savior's return, whenever it may be!
In this part of Paul's letter to the Thessalonians, he touches on the subject of death and resurrection. Some of the people whom the Apostle was writing to were sorrowing over the loss of their loved ones. It is natural for us to grieve in such a situation, but Paul reminds us here that we are not without hope. Why? Because Jesus rose from the dead! He was triumphant over the grave; and therefore, we grieve with hope, and are able to comfort one another. On the Great Last Day, those who died in Christ will rise from the dead, just as He did; and those who are still alive will be caught up to meet Him in the air. Then we will be with Him forever and ever in heaven! This is indeed a comforting thought, as we remember that death will not be victorious over us! Our risen Jesus is our hope.
Lots of people set goals for their lives, but very few of them include the goal of "I want to glorify God." However, as Christians, our endeavor should be to glorify God in everything! Our lives should bring honor and glory to His name. And Jesus is our greatest example in this; He went about His daily life, doing His Father's work.
How can we serve God? The Apostle tells us here to live a quiet life. This means to be content, and to not seek the limelight. When the world sees us, do they think of the Lord Jesus Whom we claim to serve? We need to focus on what He has called us to do. He wants us to work diligently with our hands, and to do it with joyfulness and a desire to bring glory to Him. Nevertheless, we must be careful to not let our work become our identity or our idol. When we walk with the Lord according to these directions that the Apostle has given us, we will gain a good reputation; and we have the assurance that we will have what we need!
God's desire for our lives is to be holy. This is why He has called us. We have been declared to be holy, saints. And, the Lord is making us more and more like Christ. We are to flee from sexual immorality and put on self control. We do this not because we can say we are those without sin but because we desire to be like Him.
As our culture continues its moral decline sexual ethics will continue to mark Christians apart from the world. Do we believe God's word? Will we live peculiar lives of holiness? This is God's will for our lives. We are to love Him with all of our hearts, minds, soul, and strength and the passionate lusts of our flesh.
"I just don't love him/her anymore." That's a thing that we commonly hear nowadays in our culture. The married life requires a commitment to never let your love for one another die. But that's also how our love for our brothers and sisters in Christ should be. That's what Paul is talking about in this part of his letter to the Thessalonian church.
It's so easy for us to become complacent in our love for one another. But our motivation for love comes from Christ Himself. His commandment to us is that we love one another -- in the same way that He loved us. It's not easy. This kind of love is not the mushy kind of "love" that the world knows, where everything is about making ME happy. Christian love is all about putting others before self. It's about giving something which we know can never be paid back. That's how Jesus' love was -- it was overflowing!
John Calvin said that sacrificial love is the mark of a clean conscience. What are some ways in which we can show this kind of sacrificial love to our brothers and sisters in Christ, and to all around us?
It's a sad thing when people that we have grown up with in church eventually get to the point where they are no longer following Christ. This is what Paul was worried about with the Thessalonians. So he sent Timothy to visit them, encourage them, and strengthen them. Paul had a loving heart; and he wanted to know if the seed that he had planted in Thessalonica had grown, and what type of soil it was growing in. He had been worried that the outside pressure would cause them to turn away from the ways of the Lord. Thankfully, when Timothy returned, he brought back good news that caused Paul to rejoice in the faith of the Thessalonians! He was encouraged by their faithfulness under persecutions; and he was exceedingly prayerful that he might be able to go and see them personally, so that he could teach them and encourage them even more.
When is the last time that you have been anxious, like Paul, over the spiritual state and protection of one of your family members or neighbors? Does Paul's example make you desire to see your family and friends continue to learn and grow in the faith?
A former missionary to China is remembered to have often spoken with deep affection of his brothers and sisters in Christ, wondering how they were faring after he was obliged to return home. That is the kind of affection that Paul has for the people at the church in Thessalonica. He has been separated from them, but his heart is still with them. He loved them! And so he endeavored to encourage them. He spoke of his hope for them, and of their acceptance by God. He had a desire to see them again and again, but he had been hindered by the activity of Satan.
We, too, should have a desire to be with the people of God, and to share that bond of close relationship that is centered in Christ. How awful it is when the devil keeps God's people apart, and puts them at odds with each other! In John 13, we see a picture of the love that Jesus had for His disciples. Our loving one another is a mark that we are united with Christ.
A good question for us to honestly ask ourselves today is this: Do we love the brethren like Jesus and Paul did? Let's pray for grace to imitate them!
Unlike the concept that many American Christians have about the subject of persecution today, Paul and the believers of his day were very well acquainted with suffering affliction for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus -- and yet they still gave thanks!
These people accepted the Word that they had received as the true Word of God, and not just a story or opinion. And people saw great change in them; this Word was greatly effective in their lives. Even though the Church's enemies wanted to wipe them out and destroy them, they never gave up on their Messiah. Why? Because He was everything to them.
We can't expect that we will always be without trouble. We don't need to go out and seek to be persecuted and martyred; but we do need to imitate the early Christians of Paul's day and strengthen our relationship with Christ now, and make that relationship the basis of everything in our lives.
God is patient; and as time goes on, the persecutors of His people are only accumulating more wrath against themselves. As we see His judgment already beginning in the crumbling of our society, do we cry out to Him in prayer as we see the whole world around us rushing headlong towards hell? We were once just like them, but God has mercifully shown grace to us. Let's give thanks to Him and seek His face in all things!
When we see a pastor and church members being arrested for proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that is an example of faith that is truly alive and active. This was the kind of faith that was being lived out by the Thessalonians – in action, and not just intellectually – even though the world was trying to shut it down; and Paul was thankful to see this living faith in them, which was enduring persecution. They believed that Jesus died for the forgiveness of their sins, and they lived their lives imitating that love in their relationships with one another. Thy had joy, even in the midst of their afflictions; and their faith was a great example to the people in the surrounding countryside.
The example of the Thessalonians raises some good questions that we would do well to ask ourselves. Do we spend time praying for our fellow-Christians, like they did? Are we longing to hear from the Lord and His Word, as they were? Does God's Word produce joy in us, as it did in them? Or is there some idol that we are holding on to in our lives, which is keeping us from finding this joy? And last but not least, as the world continually tries to crush God's people, are we ready to face times of testing and trial for the sake of our Lord Jesus?
How do you view God? Are you afraid to go to Him, or do you know that you need to go to Him with all your problems? In this letter of Paul, his message to the believer begins and ends with grace – "Grace to you," he says. But he also makes a declaration of peace – which is something that is sorely needed in the constant battle that has been kept up between God and man since the Fall. Ever since that dreadful day, we have been shaking our fist at the Lord and asserting that we can fix ourselves without any of His help. Even though He has already provided a way whereby our hearts can be made right with Him again, we still tend to think that we need to as much as we can on our own before peace can exist between us. But we are like a broken plate – yes, you may be able to put the pieces back together again; but nevertheless, the plate is still cracked. Only God can completely fix us, and Christ opened the way for this to become possible by giving His own life for us. And now, when – like the prodigal son in the parable – we return to our Father; we can expect Him to show us His love, mercy, and grace! We don't earn His love by our service; rather, we begin to serve Him because He loves us. Are you asking yourself today, "Am I good enough?" Or are you trusting in the fact that Jesus is already good enough, and that we have been wrapped in the spotless robe of His perfect righteousness?
