“You are my hope in the day of trouble” – Jeremiah 17:17
Storms and troubles in a believer’s life is inevitable, it will come. Don’t believe those who say that a Christian will always enjoy a prosperous and happy life all the time.
I’m saying this confidently that our Lord said, “In this world you will have troubles.” In fact, we need these storms because they help exercise our faith in Christ. It tears down our self-dependence nature and make us more firmly rooted in Christ.
The day of evil and trouble reveals to us the value of our glorious hope.
Brothers and sisters, let us not become resentful and turn away from seasons in life, rather let us embrace them because ultimately they draw us nearer to Christ as we continue to hope and find our refuge in Him.
Lord, in days of trouble, help us to find our hope in you and not in ourselves; to be Christ-dependent and not self-dependent.
As a church we’ve been going through a series called “Abiding faith” from 1 Thessalonians. Today’s we are going to see how this kind of abiding, enduring, long lasting faith produces holiness.
“Escaping sexual sin” is the title of the message. But some of us may ask, “how relevant is a message on escaping sexual sin during this time of a pandemic and a lockdown? People can’t even go outside!”
Even in the letter to Thessalonians so far, Paul has spoken about suffering and love and concern, why suddenly shift gears and talk about holiness especially in the area of sexuality? One of the reasons could be due to the challenging context of the Thessalonian believers.
After all they were living in a trading centre, commercial hub, progressive city like Thessalonica. It had easy accessibility to a lot of stuff which also has its downside – sexual immorality was open and prevalent.
In the midst of severe suffering and isolation, the believers could be tempted to let their guard down by saying to themselves deceiving things like:
i) “I’m going through so much pain and loneliness right now. Sexual sin allows me to escape & forget what I’m going through now”. ii) “Paul who is my spiritual father in the faith – he shared the good news about Jesus to me for the first time is not here right now. He’s far away in another city. So no one will even get to know if I mess with sexual sin”. iii) “So far I think I’ve been doing great spiritually. In fact all over the Christian world, churches are talking about my faith and radical testimony. I probably can take it easy spiritually. Take a break from my spiritual life”.
And even as we’re hearing this, we realize that this is not too distant from our experience in this COVID-19 pandemic with social distancing and lockdown imposed in many parts of the globe.
We are in no way exempt from these thoughts and temptations. And it’s in the midst of this context, that Paul earnestly pleads the church & us to strive for holy living unto God all the more! It’s almost like he’s saying “It’s not the time to take it easy. It’s not the time to let your guards down.
Now more than ever you need to pay attention on how you’re living your life”.
Why should we do all the more?
V3 For this is God’s will for you -> your sanctification.
Sanctification means being purified to be used by God. God’s will for us is purification so that we can be used by Him. One of the key areas that requires purification in our lives is our “Sexuality”.
That’s why he follows that up with – that you abstain from sexual immorality. That word “sexual immorality” comes from the Greek word “pornea” which describes every kind of sexual sin that we engage in outside of the commitment of marriage – fornication (sex before marriage), adultery (sex outside of marriage), lustful thoughts, homosexuality, incest, bestiality etc. God’s will and command for us is that we abstain from sexual immorality!
I remember that this was one of the first bible passages that I read when I started following Jesus some years back. At the time I thought this area of sexual sin was only something I had to deal with only for a few years.
Little did I know and expect that this was going to be something to fought against throughout my lifetime. Brothers and sisters, if you can relate or if you’re experiencing despair or hopelessness in your fight with sexual sin, I’d invite you to look at the “help” that is made available for us in this passage.
We’ll look at the commands off course, but also spend some time trying to understand what is the “help” that God provided for us & I’ll close with 3 applications at the end. The first help available for us:
New Desires God’s given us “new desires for Him”. (v4, 5)
4 that each one of you know how to control his own body[c] in holiness and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God;
In these two verses, Paul is contrasting believers of Jesus with those don’t believe in Him. He is saying that believers “can and should control their body in holiness and reverence” while Gentiles/people who don’t believe in Jesus are incapable of doing that because they are controlled by their sinful desires.
What’s the difference here? Because believers in Jesus Christ “know God” and have a new relationship with God, they also have new desires for God.
Some years back while having a conversation with a brother in Christ on this topic, and he said something that I thought has been immensely useful. He said what helped him was questioning his heart “do I love Jesus more or do I love this sin more?”
That’s an important question we need to constantly ask ourselves because that determines our responses to temptations.
In Genesis, we are told an account of Joseph while he was at Potiphar’s house. God had given Joseph favour in the eyes of his master and he became the overseer & in charge of everything he had.
Now Potiphar’s wife had her eyes on him and Scripture says “day after day she tried to lure him by telling him to lie with her”. But he refused her repeatedly. Now to the world this might seem stupid.
“She’s throwing herself at him day after day! Joseph is a fool & an idiot. Here’s an open opportunity that no one would’ve even come to know of”.
But we know why he refused repeatedly in his response to her. Joseph said “how then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” At the point of his vulnerability and utmost weakness, his desire for God is what kept him from falling.
Many times we get into that thought process thinking that sexual desire is so strong that we have no option but to succumb to it. That’s an absolute lie and the deception of sin!
John Piper has this saying “if the stakes are high like someone threatening to kill you at a moment of great sexual desire or the reward is great like someone giving you a $1 million cheque at a moment of great sexual desire, from somewhere or the other you will muster the strength to control yourself because of the greater emotion of fear or greed controls you”.
And this is just an example at a physiological level. How much more will we be able to control our bodies in holiness and honor, because God has replaced our dead desires with new desires for Him!
New name (v7)
7 For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.
God “calling us” gives us the image of God the Father calling and inviting us into fellowship with Him – God calls us by a new name – a better name.
Obviously, I’m not talking literally changing our human names. It’s not as though God literally puts the word “saint” in front of our name for ex. By putting St. in front of my name that I become “holy”!
What I mean by God giving us a new name & better name is that he doesn’t look at us and refer to us as “unholy sinners” or “impure enemies” but instead He calls us His very own children who like Him reflect holiness!
But how can we be considered as His holy children? We might assume – “Well it must be my best efforts and my good works. The sum of all the righteous things that I do in this life is what makes me holy.” Isaiah 64:6 tells us that “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags”!
So if we were to put together the best of our works, they would at the most qualify as soiled and dirty rags. Why because? The standard of measurement of holiness is not among ourselves but with God.
So how then does God give us a new name “calling us His holy children”? He does that by sending His perfect and pure Son into the world (Jesus).
In the history of the world there has been only one person who by God’s standard has lived a 100% holy life and that is Jesus.
Two weeks back we remembered Jesus’ suffering and death on Good Friday – why did the only person who lived a holy life then die brutally on a Roman cross? It’s because He willingly and lovingly took on the punishment by dying for our lust, our abuses and our immorality.
Three days later he rose from the grave to give us a new name so that whoever who turn from their sins and themselves and would turn toward Jesus and what He did for them, they would now receive the gift of a new name as His holy children!
John 1:12: Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
And this name is a permanent name because it no longer based on my failing performance but on Jesus’ perfect performance. This new and permanent name is the key motivation to living holy lives.
I once heard a pastor mention of how his parenting radically changed over the years as he grew in his understanding of God’s grace. Initially whenever he needed to discipline his son, he would tell him – “Don’t do this. You’ll be a bad boy if you do this”.
Now for many of us this is a normal statement. But when you think about it – in essence what it communicates is that what the boy did (good or bad) defined who he was and defined his relationship with the parent.
Over the years as the pastor understood God’s grace deeper, it started impacting his parenting as well. Now every time he disciplines his Son, he tells him “Son, I don’t want you to do this because you are my Son and because I love you”.
Just think about it – this will actually motivate the boy to do what the father wanted him to do because he is so secure in the committed love of his father. Similarly, and in a much greater measure, is God’s committed love toward us.
Through Jesus, He has given us the assurance that nothing will change the relationship equation – nothing will make God say to us “you are not my son or daughter” – “I’m taking your name of my name”. And that’s such a powerful motivator to help us live holy lives.
And that’s a powerful motivator to helps us with repentance! When we realize that God has given us a permanent name, it allows us to run back to him and repent sincerely.
This is not taking grace lightly. I’m not talking about regret where we feel guilty about the consequences of sin but genuine repentance where we grieve over what we’ve done against God and others & find healing because as His children we desire a relationship with God. We don’t want to live away from Him. He is our Father and He has given us a new name.
His Spirit
8 Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.
There is serious weight and authority in this instruction but also it provides us with help & hope by telling us that we’ve been given the Holy Spirit! In a sense, God is trying to tell us that He is so serious about making us holy that He has literally poured out His Spirit on us.
Ezekiel 36:26,27 – 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.[a]
The Holy Spirit that is placed within us will “cause us to walk in obedience to God in a manner that pleases Him”. Brothers and sisters –I want you guys to know that as I’m preaching on this topic, I’m not preaching from a standpoint of being a perfect believer who is preaching down on people.
I’ll be honest to say that I’ve seen and experienced the brokenness of this sin struggle myself in my thoughts, my actions and the way I’ve related with people. But from being in a place where I thought I was always going to live a defeated Christian life, God through His Spirit has brought me to a place where I see myself fighting today.
I’m by no means a finished product but I say this to testify on how the Spirit has been working especially in this arena of sexual sin and that’s why I’m passionate to help people who are struggling in this area.
I want to close by sharing 3 final applications which I hope can encourage anyone who is currently in a place of struggle:
• This temptation is not unique to us –
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. (1 Cor 10:13). For the longest time, I always thought I was alone in this struggle and that’s why I kept myself isolated and this sin hidden.
But when the Spirit opened my eyes to see that it isn’t unique, it allowed me to open up and be vulnerable to my brothers and sisters in Christ who would actually call me to repentance and remind me of the gospel when I need to hear it the most.
• Jesus faced every temptation that we’ve faced –
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Heb 4:15,16)
The Spirit opened my eyes to see that Jesus faced every temptation we’ve faced which includes sexual temptation yet without sin. And because He understands what I face, He can perfectly pray to the Father for me and also send the mercy and grace that I need.
• Spiritual disciplines are means of grace –
There was a season in my life when I erroneously assumed that if I practiced spiritual disciplines then I was a legalist and not living by grace.
The Spirit opened my eyes so that I could see that reading Scripture, prayer, having someone keep my life accountable with other believers and paying attention to what I watch and read were not so that God can measure my good or bad performance.
Rather these were gifts from God to know Him better and live in the freedom that He intended for me.
During this lockdown situation especially where we are being and being socially distanced from others – lets remember it is a ripe field for temptation.
But the good news is that God hasn’t left you alone.
He has actually provided you with the help you need – he’s given you new desires, he’s given you a new name and he’s given you His own Spirit which can help you fight sexual sins and live in holiness unto God!
“Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” – Matthew 11:28
Imagine a man drowning in a sinking sand and right before he is about to drown, help arrives! The rescuer throws him a rope but and unless the drowning man grabs it with a tight grip, he wont get to see the world again.
In the same way, brothers & sisters, as we face trails and temptations of various kinds, our God is near us, to help and rescue us from sinking into our pain and misery. Psalms 46 verse 1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
But even though he is near us, we often fail to reach out to Him for help. We ask for little of Him. We often fail to go to Him for counsel, we go about our business without seeking His guidance.
Brother & sisters, God is close to us! It’s our fault that we don’t utilize all that He has freely made available to us. We need to grow in more awareness of His presence, of all that He is to us and given us.
Remember, by offering His beloved son, Jesus Christ, God has already shown his willingness to rescue us from all our misery. “….but I press on, if so be that I may lay hold on that for which also I was laid hold on by Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:12
Let’s hold tight onto the rope!
Lord, help us to realise how close you are to us and be willing to take full benefit of your loving kindness and your invitation to offer help at all times.
“I am certain that I will see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and courageous. Wait for the Lord” – Psalms 27:13-14
The above verse was one of the promising words that I read when I was a young Christian going through a turmoil in my life. It brought me such a deep sense of comfort and also challenged me to become strong and courageous while waiting on the Lord for the right time.
After many years, today, as I look back I can certainly say that I have seen His goodness and He rescues me from all troubles.
Our God is a promise keeping God; no matter how difficult our circumstances may seem today, if we wait for the Lord, we will be strong and courageous, we will surely see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Meanwhile, let us ponder on His greatest goodness which He has already shown to us on the cross of calvary by taking away the burden of sin and shame from our shoulders. Let us enjoy the sweet freedom of a burden-less life and the presence of the all-powerful Spirit that enables us to walk blameless and holy in the presence of God.
Let us also fill our hearts with the hope of the glorious future in heaven with God. Let Jesus be the anchor to which we hold on to as we also wait for His goodness to be manifested on earth in His time.
Lord, help us to wait on you with strength, courage and hope in our hearts until the day you shower your choicest blessings on us.
“Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O LORD!” – Psalm 25:7
When we think of our younger days, I’m sure we all have our unique lists of sinful behavior and acts of rebellion that we nurtured in our souls. But God being faithful, gracious and merciful, extended His grace towards us, leading us into repentance and adopted us into His family.
Through His Son, Christ Jesus, He has removed our sins as far as the east is from the west (Psalms 103:7) and He remembers it no more (Hebrews 8:12). Therefore, our identity today is not defined by what we did in our past life but it is defined by the present truth of what God’s word has to say about us and what He thinks of us. And God’s word says, There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ (Romans 8:1). The old has gone and the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17). Our old self is dead and exists no more.
Brothers and sisters, because of who we are in Christ, we have a future that is not subjective to our past life but we have a future where we embark on this beautiful journey of discovering our true self the way God intended it to be when He formed us in our mother’s womb (Psalms 139:13). He calls us His chosen and His beloved.
But even though our destiny is confirmed in heaven (Hebrews 13:14), God performs His sanctifying work in us so that while we are on earth (2 Thessalonians 2:13), we can live like His sons and daughters bringing glory and honor to His name in the way we love Him, love others, in our attitudes, conduct and a life of purity. Let us surrender ourselves into the hands of the Potter, allowing Him to mould and shape us the way He pleases.
Lord, we thank you for your deep work in our hearts. We once led a life of shame but now we are shining vessels for your glory.
“… we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” – 1 John 2:1b
The job of an advocate is to defend his client from any accusation impended upon him by the opposite party. Yet, in order for the advocate to effectively defend the case, the client has to completely unmask and reveal all about himself so that the advocate would know him and his situation better. Then on the basis of what he knows about the client and the situation, the advocate then has to gather the evidence to prove the innocence of his client and save his life from perishing.
In our case, we are the guilty one. We have undoubtedly committed the crime of breaking the law of God, in living a life of disobedience because of which we deserve penalty. Legally that would mean us being sentenced to life imprisonment or death but instead, the advocate offers us a bargain that can rescue us from this penalty of our sinful acts, something we don’t deserve.
In the courtroom of God where our punishment is already declared, Christ our advocate, knocks at our door offering us hope. If we open the door and confess the true state of our hearts, the sins we have committed against God, the wickedness we tolerate in and around us, then based on our repentant response to His call, Christ establishes the evidences required to prove our innocence. The evidences are His nail pierced hands, the whips on His back, the blood spilled on the ground, his crown pierced brow, the cross where the penalty for our sins is already been paid for.
After presenting the evidence just like any other advocate, He pleads our innocence to God, the righteous judge, to set us free and the judge declares, ‘Not Guilty!’
Brothers and sisters, all we can offer to our loving and gracious advocate in return for His bountiful, undeserving grace and forgiveness is to pledge our whole lives in humble surrender, growing in faith and love in His service, who promised that He will never leave us nor forsake us even when we fail and falter in our Christian walk.
Lord, help us to understand the value of the price you paid with your own life to save a wicked, guilty and sinful person like me.
He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. – Psalm 23:3
In the corporate world, a well establish brand needs to be very careful in maintaining the brand image, every decision they make in the company can make or break their brand name and reputation in the market.
From hiring the right employees to designing the perfect product to delivering quick customer service, to communicating the marketing message, everything matters.
Similarly, God is also about His name and his brand image. He shows a lot of concern when His name is at stake. The Psalmist in the above verse is saying, “For His name sake, He renews our life, and leads us also in the paths of righteousness.
We see God’s sensitivity towards His name, even in the Old testament. In the story of Joshua, when the Israelites lost the battle against a city called Ai, in Joshua 7:9, Joshua says to God, “For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it and will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. And what will you do for your great name?” – Joshua 7:9
Joshua knew how much God cares about His name and that He will do anything to preserve and protect His great name from being defamed by others.
Brothers & sisters, as children of this most high God, when we go through trials of various kinds, when we face temptations of all sorts, do not be worried or dismayed thinking that God is not watching you or that He doesn’t care. If you have genuinely repented of your sins and surrendered your life to God, and if in His eyes you are His child and possession, remember, He has done everything to restore and renew our lives from the present momentary struggles.
He will undoubtedly lead us into the paths of righteousness.
You know why? Because God’s higher goal in doing so is to preserve His Name and brand image. God is glorifying himself through His creation, which includes us, His chosen sons and daughters, predestined before the creation of this world through His son Jesus.
Our response should be that of a faithful servant, humbly bowing our head at His throne of grace, mercy and greatness and follow his leading without questioning.
Lord, your name is great and greatly to be praised. Help us to lean on you and find rest and comfort in knowing that you are renewing our lives each day for your name’s sake.
“For which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.” – 2 Timothy 2:9-10
Since the day Paul encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus, his life radically changed. Paul, who was a very prominent Jew and a Roman citizen, who once persecuted and killed Christians, is now willing to suffer all kinds of pain and shame so that Christ, who changed his life forever, could be preached to the ends of the world.
He willingly gave up everything he was, and he had for the sake of the Gospel.
Paul could do that because He knew the price paid for him on the cross of Calvary. Christ, the Prince of Heaven, gave up his position, left His heavenly glory, and humbled himself to the point where he was despised, rejected, and tortured by His own creation.
And despite all that shame and pain, He still endured the cross for our sake, to present us holy and blameless before God and obtain for us a place in heaven.
Brothers & sisters, what is stopping us from sharing Christ with our family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues? In the light of what Christ has done for us, would we be willing, just like Paul, to give up everything we have and to suffer pain and shame for the sake of this glorious Gospel. Using every means and opportunities God gives us, whether in person or through social media or Whatapp or any other digital mediums where you are part of a community.
“To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.” – 1 Corinthians 9:22
Lord, help us to reflect on the sufferings you endured for my sake and let that encourage my heart to share your love with someone I care about.
I am delighted to see all of you this morning, I wanna say thank you so much for taking out your time, may the Lord bless all of us as we come together and listen to His living word.
I know we all our going through hard time,
difficulties and challenges, I pray that we all will be encourage as we spend
time together in God’s presence.
we shall continue with our book study from 1
Thessalonian.3.
Before
we go ahead shall we look to God in prayer.
Shall we open our bible to 1 Thessalonica
3:6-13.
6. But Timothy has just now come to us from you
and has brought good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you
always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we
also long to see you.
7
Therefore, brothers, in all our distress and persecution we were encourage
about you because of your faith.
8 For
now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord.
9. How
can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the
presence of our God because of you?
10 Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and
supply what is lacking in your faith.
11 Now
may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come
to you.
12. May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and
for everyone else, just as ours does for you.
13. May He strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy
in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all His
holy ones.
The text is about Paul sending Timothy to check
out the condition of Thessalonian believers, as we know Paul didn’t spend much
time with Them because of persecution. He was concern and curious about them.
Timothy brings good news that they are growing in faith and growing in love.
I would like to entitle my sermon as “An Exemplary believer”
We shall see 4 very important points from the
above text.
An exemplary believer has a genuine faith that produces fruit. (6) (8) (10)
6. But Timothy has just now come to
us from you and has brought good news about your FAITH and love. He has told us that you always have pleasant
memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we also long to see you.
8. For now we really live, since you are standing firm in
the Lord.
10 Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and
supply what is lacking in your faith.
Thessalonian believer’s faith was a genuine faith that bear much fruit,
we see Christlike example that has spread everywhere.
When we read Thessalonica chapter 1, we know that they were idol
worshipper but when Paul and his team brought good news they turn from idol and
serve the true living God.
1
Thessalonian 1: 6,7,8.
6. you became imitators of us and of
the Lord, in spite of severe suffering, you welcome the message with the joy
given by the Holy spirit.
7. And so you became a Model to all
the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.
8. The Lord message rang out from
you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, your faith in God has become known
everywhere. Therefore, we don’t need to say anything about it.
They became example for many people, they were bearing fruit, they
received the gospel, they didn’t keep it, but they spread out and multiply in
every part of the world, their Faith was a genuine and living faith.
How is our faith in God today?
You know church a faith that doesn’t produce fruit is a dead faith. we
may know so many things about the bible but if we don’t put into action it is a
dead faith.
James 2:26 says “Faith without work is dead.”
Jesus said, in Matthew 7:20, “By their fruit you will
recognize them.”
It means the kind of fruit you are bearing will prove who you are, A
real believer or fake believer.
Are we bearing fruit in our life? Are we putting
our faith into action?
Illustration: Let’s see Abraham genuine faith .
God says to Abraham, leave your country, your people, your father
household and go to the place where I have prepared. Abraham didn’t ask even 1
question why and where?
He doesn’t know how his future will look like,
By faith he obeys God and leave his country, that is genuine faith with
action.
Abraham have faith in God, even though he doesn’t see it, He Obey God
and he exercise his faith practically, as a result we see Abraham genuine faith
produce fruit.
What if Abraham didn’t believe God or obey God, he will never see all
the blessings and promises.
Illustration: You know, Jesus didn’t perform miracles in Nazareth
because of their unbelief,
Matthew 13:58. Let this thing shouldn’t happen to our family, our
society or our nation.
Let’s have faith in God.
Application
Let’s have:
Faith in Gods healing – that He will heal this terrible corona pandemic.
Faith in God’s providence – that he will supply all our needs.
Faith in God’s Protection – that as He protect the nation Israel from
the hand of Pharaoh, He will protect us from all disease, harm and evil.
Faith in God’s Character – that He is good and makes no mistakes.
Faith in God’s Word – that it is true no matter what happen.
Faith in God’s Plan – that He has the best plan for our life.
Faith in God’s presence – that he is with us in the darkest moments of
life.
Faith in God’s power – that He can deliver us from every Temptation.
An exemplary believer has genuine love that leads to action. (6) (12)
(Genuine love leads to action
because love is action)
(6) But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news
about your faith and
love. 12. May the Lord make your love increase and
overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.
Thessalonians believers have genuine love to God
and to one another.
They have proved their love with their action.
Bible says the greatest commandment is
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and
with all your soul and with all your mind. And the second is love your neighbor
as you love yourself.
Matthew 22:37-39.
We see Thessalonians believers love God and they
are loving each other.
Illustration:
Christ Display
the perfect example of Genuine love that leads to action.
The dead of Christ on the cross was the greatest
act of love,
His sacrifice brings the forgiveness of sins,
Redemption from slavery of sin, reconciliation to the Father, it brings peace
and joy to mankind, it brings eternal hope and it grant us eternal life.
Apostle
Paul explain clearly in 1 Cor. 13:1-8. What genuine love look like?
1.If I speak in the tonguesof
men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a
clanging cymbal.
2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and
all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have
love, I am nothing.
3.If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to
hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not
boast, it is not proud.
5.It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is
not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6.Love does not delight in
evil but rejoices with the truth. 7.It
always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8.Love never fails.
Application:
Church let our love for God and love for others be a genuine
love with action.
The world is desperately in need of God’s love, let us shine
Christlike example in our everyday life. Let us not forget that Christ Love is
the greatest weapon.
With Christ Love we can change the world; we can bring peace
in the world.
With Christ love we can bring forgiveness and
reconciliation.
with Christ love we can build up broken family, broken
relationship, broken society
broken nation and
broken world.
As the world is going through tough time, let us take this
as an opportunity to spread God’s love to all people around us.
Together we can change the world with Christ love, together
we can bring glory to God by loving Him and by loving one another.
An exemplary believer are source of encouragement and source of joy to others.
(7) (9)
7 Therefore, brothers, in all our distress and persecution we were
encourage about you because of your faith.
9.How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have
in the presence of our God because of you?
Thessalonian believers were living a genuine Christian life, their faith
in the Lord was a source of encouragement and source of joy to Paul and his
teammate.
Illustration:
(Christmas eve).
It was Christmas morning, A lady name Lily work at coffee shop in the
Airport,
one guy was on his way home to celebrate Christmas eve with his family
after his long tiresome work. Lily politely talk with the guy and wishes him.
“saying “may you and your family have an extraordinary Christmas holiday, May
you all have a wonderful time together.
And when you get back to airport, I would like to hear all the fun and
love about your family
They didn’t know each other; he was surprise to see her kindness.
He left the coffee shop, after some time he return, Lily say, is there
anything wrong with the coffee he says no, no, He ask, what make you connect so
well.
Lily reply, I am not just serving coffee, I am pouring happiness in people’s lives.
We are living in a busy world, many people are living with work
pressure, many people are having hard time, many people are struggling in
different areas of life.
Even these days all people around the world are experiencing the pain of
Covid-19.
As a believer we can be a source of encouragement and source of Joy to
many people around the world. Let’s be like lily pouring happiness in the lives
of others.
Application:
Let our life be a channel of blessing for all the people
whom we meet.
Always look out for an opportunity to pour out your
happiness in people lives.
Always be ready to encourage other with smile, with helping
hand, with the word of God,
Always show your love and kindness to all the people.
A little love, a little kindness a
little encouragement can bring great joy in the lives of people around us.
An exemplary Believer live a holy life that
pleases God. (13)
13. May He strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy
in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all His
holy ones.
This verse is a loving prayer of Paul for Thessalonians believers, Paul
want them to be blameless and holy before God.
The root meaning of holy is to Set apart, to separate, to cut.
It means to set apart or separate from sins, from all evil or sinful
activities in this world.
1 Peter 1:15,16 says
15.“But like the holy one who call you, be holy yourselves also in all
your behavior.
16. Because it is written “You shall be holy for I am Holy.”
Illustration: You know Daniel and friends were offer Babylonian pleasure, but they said no
“we won’t defile our heart with the king choice food” they set apart
themselves from all evil pagans’ activities. Let us be bold enough like Daniel
and friends and say No to all sinful activities. They drew a line; a boundary
and they never cross the boundary that is an example living a holy life.
Joseph was
tempted by Potiphar wife to sleep with her, Joseph reply “how could I do this
great evil and sin against God.” He ran from the temptation.
This is great example for all of us, we have to run like joseph.
2 Corinthians 6: 14-17.
Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and
wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?
15. What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or What does a
believer have in common with an unbeliever?
16. What agreement is there between the temple of God and Idols? For we
are the temple of the Living God. As God has said:
“I will live with them and walk with them, and I will be their God, and
they will be my people.”
It means God does not want us to live like unbelievers, he didn’t want
us to walk like them, they are wicked and unredeemed, and they are living in a
Darkness.
He reminds us that we belong to Him, we are bought with a price, we are
temple of God, and Holy Spirit dwell in us. As a result, we should keep our
heart Holy and live a blameless life.
Application:
Church, are we maintaining our
life holy before God?
If our every thought and every action done in secret and public are
recorded and display in big TV screen how it will look like?
I think we will be ashamed to look our evil thought, our lustful thought
our sinful thought and sinful action before God. We will be ashamed.
Remember church God has purchased us with His blood.
He didn’t want us to live the same old sinful life, He want us to be
Holy and blameless before Him. For He is holy God.
Romans 12: 1-2 says.
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in
view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and
pleasing to God- this is your true and proper worship.
2. Do not conform to the pattern of this world
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test
and approve what God’s will is- His good, pleasing and perfect will.
Conclusion:
Beloved church let our life be a living example like Thessalonian
believers in this broken world,
Let our love for Jesus, our faith in Jesus be spread from here to all
over the world like Thessalonian believers.
Let us be the light in the mountain where everyone can see.
Let our genuine faith produce many fruits,
Let our genuine love leads to action,
Let our life be a source of encouragement and source of joy to all
people around us.
Let our life be holy and blameless before God, till we meet Christ.
“For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at last, he will stand upon the earth.” – Job 19:25
The above words were uttered by a man called Job who lost everything; his children were struck dead, and if that wasn’t enough, even his wealth and possessions were destroyed. All of this happening with the consent and permission of God Almighty.
In the eyes of the world, he had every right to reject and accuse God of abandonment and unleashing these catastrophes over him, yet he said “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”
During those most painful moments, he remained alive and hopeful because he knew for sure that his Redeemer lives.
The dictionary meaning of the word Redeemer or redeem is “atone or make amends for”, “gain or regain possession of (something) in exchange for payment.”
Before even the coming and advent of Christ, Job could say “I know..” He doesn’t say “I hope so…”, no ifs, buts or perhaps, but he knows, undoubtedly, that His Redeemer lives and will one day deliver Him from his sin and make him stand blameless before our Heavenly Father.
Friends, we have great hope. There is no need for a debate or an argument to prove it. From the other side of history, we can see what Job and other men in the Old Testament longed for and hoped to see. Christ, the Son of the Living God came down to earth, lived a perfect and holy life, and redeemed us by exchanging His perfect life with us and taking on our unrighteousness and paying the penalty of our sins to present us holy and acceptable to God.
“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus”. Let us rejoice in this truth all the days of our lives.
Lord, through the good times and in the bad times, help us to trust in your son Jesus, to know that our redeemer lives.