Epistle for December 17, 2023

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians is likely the oldest piece of Christian literature in existence.  Paul had visited Thessalonica and established a church there after he had crossed the Hellespont channel into Europe from Asia Minor. This was one of his many stops on the second missionary journey (49-52 A.D.).

This passage is the conclusion of this letter.  It is a series of exhortations, followed by a blessing.  In some ways it is almost proverbial or aphoristic in nature, and full of good, solid advice.

The first series is positive — rejoice, pray, give thanks.  Note that Paul encourages them to do all of these all the time, and in all circumstances. He sees this attitude of gratitude and joy and prayer as the will of God for believers.

Then there are some “do nots”:

Don’t quench the Spirit. Don’t despise prophesies… Abstain from every form of evil.

He doesn’t elaborate on what it means to quench the Spirit, but based on his other letters, as in 1 Corinthians 12, he truly believes that the Holy Spirit is at work in the Christian community providing gifts and empowerment for ministry.

Moreover, the prophecies to which he refers might be a reference to the Old Testament, but just as likely may relate to the active gift of prophesy that occurred in the context of worship in the early church:

But he who prophesies speaks to men for their edification, exhortation, and consolation. He who speaks in another language edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the assembly. (1 Corinthians 14:3-4).

The evidence for this is strengthened by the phrase:

Test all things, and hold firmly that which is good.

Paul, a former Pharisee who believed fervently in the inspiration of the Scriptures, would never have consented to “testing” the prophecies revealed in the Scriptures. However, he would definitely have been compelled to weigh the prophecies uttered in worship so that they might keep the good and reject the bad.

Ultimately, his prayer is for the total sanctification of the believers, that they might be blameless in spirit, soul and body until that time when Christ returned.  He holds out the prospect of total holiness in the lives of believers.

APPLY:  

As an Advent passage, this text reminds us that holiness and sanctification are not distant goals that are only accomplished in heaven.  No, God’s desire is to sanctify us “through and through” and present us blameless in every dimension of our lives — spirit, soul and body.

Salvation is not simply buying “fire insurance” until we finally arrive at the “sweet by and by of pie in the Sky.”  We are to be equipped to live holy lives in the present so that we may be ready for Christ’s return!

Rejoice, pray, give thanks at all times and in all circumstances because that is God’s will for us now, not just in the age to come.

Don’t ignore the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives now by quenching the Spirit or denying the possibility that God is speaking now in our lives through the prophecy of those around us.

We pray for holiness because God’s nature is holy.  If he can make us holy in the future, he can make us holy in the present.  Otherwise, he is not all-powerful. This is a statement of faithful confidence in God:

He who calls you is faithful, who will also do it.

RESPOND: 

I hear Christians quite often excuse their fallibility and their poor decisions by saying “nobody’s perfect until they get to heaven.”  I’ve made the same kind of excuses for myself.  But the claim of Scripture is that if God has called us to be holy, he can make us holy.  If I am lazy in my spiritual or bodily habits, keeping me from obeying God’s call to holiness, that’s on me not on God.

Our Lord, give me the sense of your presence that brings that constant joy, prayer and thanksgiving that helps me anticipate your coming. Be at work in my spirit, soul and body to render me blameless in your eyes.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:
“1 Thessalonians 5:16-18” by Charlotte Tai is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Epistle for December 13, 2020

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians is likely the oldest piece of Christian literature in existence.  Paul had visited Thessalonike and established a church there after he had crossed the Hellespont channel into Europe from Asia Minor. This was one of his many stops on the second missionary journey (49-52 A.D.).

This passage is the conclusion of this letter.  It is a series of exhortations, followed by a blessing.  In some ways it is almost proverbial or aphoristic in nature, and full of good, solid advice.

The first series is positive — rejoice, pray, give thanks.  Note that Paul encourages them to do all of these all the time, and in all circumstances. He sees this attitude of gratitude and joy and prayer as the will of God for believers.

Then there are some “do nots”:

Don’t quench the Spirit. Don’t despise prophesies …. Abstain from every form of evil.

He doesn’t elaborate on what it means to quench the Spirit, but based on his other letters, as in 1 Corinthians 12, he truly believes that the Holy Spirit is at work in the Christian community providing gifts and empowerment for ministry.

Moreover, the prophecies to which he refers might be a reference to the Old Testament, but just as likely may relate to the active gift of prophesy that occurred in the context of worship in the early church:

But he who prophesies speaks to men for their edification, exhortation, and consolation. He who speaks in another language edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the assembly. (1 Corinthians 14:3-4).

The evidence for this is strengthened by the phrase:

Test all things, and hold firmly that which is good.

Paul, a former Pharisee who believed fervently in the inspiration of the Scriptures, would never have consented to “testing” the prophecies revealed in the Scriptures. However, he would definitely have been compelled to weigh the prophecies uttered in worship so that they might keep the good and reject the bad.

Ultimately, his prayer is for the total sanctification of the believers, that they might be blameless in spirit, soul and body until that time when Christ returned.  He holds out the prospect of total holiness in the lives of believers.

APPLY:  

As an Advent passage, this text reminds us that holiness and sanctification are not distant goals that are only accomplished in heaven.  No, God’s desire is to sanctify us “through and through” and present us blameless in every dimension of our lives — spirit, soul and body.

Salvation is not simply buying “fire insurance” until we finally arrive at the “sweet by and by of pie in the Sky.”  We are to be equipped to live holy lives in the present so that we may be ready for Christ’s return!

Rejoice, pray, give thanks at all times and in all circumstances because that is God’s will for us now, not just in the age to come.

Don’t ignore the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives now by quenching the Spirit or denying the possibility that God is speaking now in our lives through the prophecy of those around us.

We pray for holiness because God’s nature is holy.  If he can make us holy in the future, he can make us holy in the present.  Otherwise, he is not all-powerful. This is a statement of faithful confidence in God:

He who calls you is faithful, who will also do it.

RESPOND: 

I hear Christians quite often excuse their fallibility and their poor decisions by saying “nobody’s perfect until they get to heaven.”  I’ve made the same kind of excuses for myself.  But the claim of Scripture is that if God has called us to be holy, he can make us holy.  If I am lazy in my spiritual or bodily habits, keeping me from obeying God’s call to holiness, that’s on me not on God.

Our Lord, give me the sense of your presence that brings that constant joy, prayer and thanksgiving that helps me anticipate your coming. Be at work in my spirit, soul and body to render me blameless in your eyes.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:
“1 Thessalonians 5:16-18” by Charlotte Tai is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Epistle for December 17, 2017

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians is likely the oldest piece of Christian literature in existence.  Paul had visited Thessalonike and established a church there after he had crossed the Hellespont channel into Europe from Asia Minor. This was one of his many stops on the second missionary journey (49-52 A.D.).

This passage is the conclusion of this letter.  It is a series of exhortations, followed by a blessing.  In some ways it is almost proverbial or aphoristic in nature, and full of good, solid advice.

The first series is positive — rejoice, pray, give thanks.  Note that Paul encourages them to do all of these all the time, and in all circumstances. He sees this attitude of gratitude and joy and prayer as the will of God for believers.

Then there are some “do nots”:

Don’t quench the Spirit. Don’t despise prophesies …. Abstain from every form of evil.

He doesn’t elaborate on what it means to quench the Spirit, but based on his other letters, as in 1 Corinthians 12, he truly believes that the Holy Spirit is at work in the Christian community providing gifts and empowerment for ministry.

Moreover, the prophecies to which he refers might be a reference to the Old Testament, but just as likely may relate to the active gift of prophesy that occurred in the context of worship in the early church:

But he who prophesies speaks to men for their edification, exhortation, and consolation. He who speaks in another language edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the assembly. (1 Corinthians 14:3-4).

The evidence for this is strengthened by the phrase:

Test all things, and hold firmly that which is good.

Paul, a former Pharisee who believed fervently in the inspiration of the Scriptures, would never have consented to “testing” the prophecies revealed in the Scriptures. However, he would definitely have been compelled to weigh the prophecies uttered in worship so that they might keep the good and reject the bad.

Ultimately, his prayer is for the total sanctification of the believers, that they might be blameless in spirit, soul and body until that time when Christ returned.  He holds out the prospect of total holiness in the lives of believers.

APPLY:  

As an Advent passage, this text reminds us that holiness and sanctification are not distant goals that are only accomplished in heaven.  No, God’s desire is to sanctify us “through and through” and present us blameless in every dimension of our lives – spirit, soul and body.

Salvation is not simply buying “fire insurance” until we finally arrive at the “sweet by and by of pie in the Sky.”  We are to be equipped to live holy lives in the present so that we may be ready for Christ’s return!

Rejoice, pray, give thanks at all times and in all circumstances because that is God’s will for us now, not just in the age to come.

Don’t ignore the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives now by quenching the Spirit or denying the possibility that God is speaking now in our lives through the prophecy of those around us.

We pray for holiness because God’s nature is holy.  If he can make us holy in the future, he can make us holy in the present.  Otherwise, he is not all-powerful. This is a statement of faithful confidence in God:

He who calls you is faithful, who will also do it.

RESPOND: 

I hear Christians quite often excuse their fallibility and their poor decisions by saying “nobody’s perfect until they get to heaven.”  I’ve made the same kind of excuses for myself.  But the claim of scripture is that if God has called us to be holy, he can make us holy.  If I am lazy in my spiritual or bodily habits, keeping me from obeying God’s call to holiness, that’s on me not on God.

Our Lord, give me the sense of your presence that brings that constant joy, prayer and thanksgiving that helps me anticipate your coming. Be at work in my spirit, soul and body to render me blameless in your eyes.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:
“1 Thessalonians 5:16-18” by Charlotte Tai is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.