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You Are Called To Holiness

1 Thessalonians 4 – 2 Thessalonians 2

We finish 1 Thessalonians and start 2 Thessalonians today.  I’ll provide an outline below.  I love how today’s reading starts and I think it is important for each of us to ponder what Paul has to tell us in the following verses.

1 Thessalonians 4:1-8

“Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more.  For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus.  For this is the will of God, your sanctification:  that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you.  For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.  Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.”

Fellas, are you growing in your faith?  Are proceeding steadily in sanctification – becoming more like Christ every day?  It is the will of God that you abstain from sexual immorality, that you know how to control your own body in holiness.  You have been called to holiness.  Make a firm commitment today, if you haven’t already, to keep your mind and body pure, to continually discipline yourself to reject the lusts and passions of this world.  Such rejection does not happen by accident.  You must pursue it with a vengeance.

OUTLINE

2 Thessalonians

Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians was also written from Corinth, the last location Paul, Silas, and Timothy were known to have been together. It was probably written shortly after the first letter, in response to new developments in Thessalonica. There persecution had intensified, and many of the victims were struggling with despair. The only way out seemed to lie in the return of Christ, and rumors had started that Paul himself was saying the time of the end had arrived! One practical impact of this on the church was that many simply stopped work and lived off others. Why worry if Jesus is coming back tomorrow?

In this letter Paul deals with each of these three issues. The Christian is suffering now, but God will repay the persecutors—and reward the faithful (1:1–12). As for Christ’s return to earth, that takes place after the “Day of the Lord” described in Old Testament prophecy—after the Antichrist appears (2:1–17). As a result, there’s no basis for the idleness of some. Paul’s simple solution to that problem is don’t feed idle people. If they’re able–bodied and still won’t work, they won’t eat!

Paul’s letter has many a helpful reminder for us. Christians do experience persecution, and redress is not always experienced in this world. But Christ will surely balance the books when He comes. In the meantime, we live as citizens of God’s kingdom, always aware that the sinful human society is doomed.

THEOLOGICAL OUTLINE OF 2 THESSALONIANS

I.     JUDGMENT        1

II.    ANTICHRIST      2

III.   IDLENESS           3

CONTENT OUTLINE OF 2 THESSALONIANS

Greeting (1:1–2)

I. God Will Repay (1:3–12)

A. Thanks for Perseverance (1:3–4)

B. God’s Judgment to Come (1:5–10)

1. It is just (1:5–7a)

2. It takes place at Jesus’ return (1:7b–9)

3. It vindicates and glorifies God’s saints (1:10)

4. Prayer for preparation (1:11–12)

II. The Antichrist Will Come First (2:1–17)

A. Present Troubles Are Not the Day of the Lord (2:1–2)

B. The Antichrist Appears Before That Day (2:3–4)

C. Don’t Confuse the Normal Lawlessness in Sinful Human Society for the Antichrist or the End of This Era (2:5–12)

D. Stand Firm Now: Let God Encourage You and Strengthen You (2:13–17)

III. So Get Back to Work (3:1–15)

A. Pray for Protection (3:1–5)

B. Work Hard and Support Yourself (3:6–15)

Final greetings (3:16–18)

Richards, L. O. (1991). The Bible readers companion (electronic ed.). Wheaton: Victor Books.

Have a holy day brothers!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

Here Am I!  Send Me!

Isaiah 6-9

There is so much on which I would like to comment today but there just isn’t time.  I again found my heart soaring as I read passages about God’s Holiness, about Isaiah’s faithfulness, and about our coming Savior and King.  For example:

Isaiah 6:8

“And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

That one simple verse, composed of three simple sentences, is devastating to me.  The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are asking “who will go for us?”  Isaiah said “Here am I! Send me.”  You do know that God asks that question every day don’t you?  Do you know He is looking right at you and me when He asks it? Did you notice that Isaiah did not ask “to do what?”  He didn’t ask if he could do it after he finished something else.  He didn’t barter about the particulars.  He simply said “Here am I!  Send me.”

Isaiah reminds me of Abram when God told him to rise and go to a place He would show him.  In other words “get up and get going; I’ll show you where you are going after you show me your faithfulness”.  Ah, the words “trust and obey” come crashing into my brain.  That is at the heart of faith.  This is not to suggest that the brain is turned off, but at the end of the day, when things just don’t make sense, when we don’t have all the answers we would like, we must simply trust and obey.

Isaiah 7:14

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

Here it is!  People get ready!  Jesus is coming!  Soon we’ll be going home!!!  Here, 700 years before it came to pass Isaiah tells us that God is coming to earth in human form.  Immanuel means “God with us.”  He was that then and He is still that today.  Christ resides within me.  He is still Immanuel.

Why do we need Him?  Because we walk in the darkness of our own sin.

Isaiah 9:2

“The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shined.”

I remember flipping channels the other day and I paused for a moment on one of the Harry Potter movies that have been playing a lot lately.  It was a scene where Harry and another fellow lay on the ground in a wood next to a small pond.  Dark, ghost like, shadows swirled overhead, coming closer and closer.  As they passed over the bodies they seem to suck the life from both individuals.  Just when it seemed like all was lost, a pinpoint of light from the other side of the pond burst forth.  It was an intense, brilliant light that quickly blossomed to the point of blotting out the screen.  The dark shadowy creatures were shattered in an instant.  Nothing could withstand the light.  That’s like us isn’t it?  Weren’t we being sucked dry of life by our sins?  Were not our sins draining us of life?  It was the light of Christ that broke through the darkness that surrounded us, obliterated our sins, and saved us from death; restoring our souls.

Isaiah 9:6-7

“For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”

Praise God!  Praise God!! Praise God!!!  May glory, and power, and honor, and praise be forever His!!!  He saved you.  He cleansed you and now He is asking whom shall I send?  I hope he hears you say “Here am I!  Send me!”

May you have an obedient day!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!