Lent actions on holy living and why we should do this
2nd Sunday in Lent I Thessalonians 4
The letter to the Thessalonians is a letter written about 51 AD. Here is what it is about: " the majority of the people in the Thessalonian church had been converted from idolatry. In this letter Paul wanted to express his joy at their steadfastness, encourage them in the midst of suffering, instruct them in the way of holiness, and correct misconceptions about the Lord's return." The Matthew Henry Bible
Today we are jumping in right in the middle of chapter 4. Our first point is about authority. This was the problem in Thessalonica. Leon Morris in his comments on this letter said, " the Jewish opponents of the Christian way were maintaining a campaign in which a principal element seems to have been a slander of St. Paul." Note what is said in the first few vs of the chapter about this"
" we beseech you and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, even as you have received from us, how it behooves you to walk and to please God,that you would abound more, for you know what injunctions we gave you through the Lord Jesus...."
received=to receive near literally as to assume an office, received or learned // injunctions= instructions or commandments ( a mandate, a charge , a command)
" For this is the will of God"....("your sanctification.")
The office of Apostle does not exist today. The Apostle was one who spoke as did a prophet. He spoke a " thus saith the Lord." Their words are recorded in written form in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. This is where we must start in understanding our growth in holiness. The holiness that he will now talk about comes directly from God's will of what it means to be holy.
Point 2 Each one of us who profess Christ need to apply this. 4:4 " to abstain from fornication, to each of you to know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor" " to win mastery over in holiness and honor" literally. He says as well, "not as the Gentiles." There is a difference here in the behavior and the call of the Christian.
The Christian life is not only knowledge but purity in actions, speech, conduct and thought. What a high calling we have . What a special message for our Lenten walk to hear this today again from this letter of the Apostle.
⦁ "How little people know who think that holiness is dull. When one meets real thing, it is irresistible. "
C. S. Lewis, Letters to an American Lady
Lastly, Point 3, the admonition is given to us to strictly pay attention to this as , " the one rejecting (this) disregards not man but God who also gave His Holy Spirit to us." 4:8 This is a positive Christian message. If we wish to please God and to do His will we will strive to gain mastery over our conduct and to do what He desires . The world does not have this motive for their lives. As Christians, we are called to believe what God wills for us, and to also believe that it is the road to happiness here and in the life to come.
Today's prayer for the day sums up our problem and its solution:
" ALMIGHTY GOD , who seest that we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves; keep us both outwardly in our bodies, and inwardly in our souls; that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord. " Amen.
The letter to the Thessalonians is a letter written about 51 AD. Here is what it is about: " the majority of the people in the Thessalonian church had been converted from idolatry. In this letter Paul wanted to express his joy at their steadfastness, encourage them in the midst of suffering, instruct them in the way of holiness, and correct misconceptions about the Lord's return." The Matthew Henry Bible
Today we are jumping in right in the middle of chapter 4. Our first point is about authority. This was the problem in Thessalonica. Leon Morris in his comments on this letter said, " the Jewish opponents of the Christian way were maintaining a campaign in which a principal element seems to have been a slander of St. Paul." Note what is said in the first few vs of the chapter about this"
" we beseech you and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, even as you have received from us, how it behooves you to walk and to please God,that you would abound more, for you know what injunctions we gave you through the Lord Jesus...."
received=to receive near literally as to assume an office, received or learned // injunctions= instructions or commandments ( a mandate, a charge , a command)
" For this is the will of God"....("your sanctification.")
The office of Apostle does not exist today. The Apostle was one who spoke as did a prophet. He spoke a " thus saith the Lord." Their words are recorded in written form in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. This is where we must start in understanding our growth in holiness. The holiness that he will now talk about comes directly from God's will of what it means to be holy.
Point 2 Each one of us who profess Christ need to apply this. 4:4 " to abstain from fornication, to each of you to know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor" " to win mastery over in holiness and honor" literally. He says as well, "not as the Gentiles." There is a difference here in the behavior and the call of the Christian.
The Christian life is not only knowledge but purity in actions, speech, conduct and thought. What a high calling we have . What a special message for our Lenten walk to hear this today again from this letter of the Apostle.
⦁ "How little people know who think that holiness is dull. When one meets real thing, it is irresistible. "
C. S. Lewis, Letters to an American Lady
Lastly, Point 3, the admonition is given to us to strictly pay attention to this as , " the one rejecting (this) disregards not man but God who also gave His Holy Spirit to us." 4:8 This is a positive Christian message. If we wish to please God and to do His will we will strive to gain mastery over our conduct and to do what He desires . The world does not have this motive for their lives. As Christians, we are called to believe what God wills for us, and to also believe that it is the road to happiness here and in the life to come.
Today's prayer for the day sums up our problem and its solution:
" ALMIGHTY GOD , who seest that we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves; keep us both outwardly in our bodies, and inwardly in our souls; that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord. " Amen.
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