Hope, Joy and Crown
When I was growing up as a kid, I was not particularly athletic. I could ride a bike and could roller skate fairly well, but I did not do well with team sports of any kind. I still don’t. When teams were chosen, thus, not only was I the last one chosen, but I was often the recipient of, “Do we have to take her?” So, the concept of winning trophies (crowns) was not something with which I was too familiar, though I did win a singing contest once or twice. I just was not good at games and sports and rarely did I win at anything. So, when I would read about receiving crowns in heaven, it was a foreign concept to me, and one I could not grasp. “What are these crowns?” I often wondered. They were meaningless to me. My “crown” was to be with Jesus, for he is truly my hope, joy and crown!
Yet, Paul speaks of crowns here in a context with which I can understand, and I can grasp the meaning, and I now can fully appreciate the concept of such crowns. Paul and his companions were physically separated, for a short period of time, from the Thessalonian believers in Christ. Yet, the Christians were not removed from the apostles’ thoughts. They longed to be with them and to fellowship with and to encourage them in the Lord, but Satan stopped them. Time and time again Paul tried to go see them, but was unsuccessful, so he and Silas stayed on in Athens and they sent Timothy to strengthen and encourage the believers in their faith, so that they would not be discouraged and disheartened by the opposition they were facing to their faith, and by the subsequent persecutions.
Paul, in writing to the believers in Thessalonica, in expressing to them his intense longing to come to them, and concerning his being hindered from doing so by Satan, expressed to them what they meant, in heart, to him and the other apostles. He said, “For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed you are our glory and joy” (1 Thess. 2:17-19 NIV 1984).
As I prayed about this and thought through what this means, I realized what Paul was saying. He was saying that the goal (the reward) of their obedience and service to Christ was to see other people come to faith in the Lord Jesus and then to see the new believers grow in their understanding of Christ, his word, and in how to live for the Lord and to walk with him in obedience, too. Again, this is like a parent with children. The goal (or reward) of parenthood is to produce offspring who will know who they are and why they are here (their purpose for existence) and who will, in turn, become loving, caring, mature, responsible and productive adults who will have an impact on this world in loving others and in serving our Lord Jesus Christ. This is certainly God’s goal for us in birthing us, and so that is why it is our joy, hope and crown to reproduce, through our witness for Christ, and our sharing of God’s love and his gospel, fruit-bearing disciples of Jesus Christ who will follow the Lord Jesus in loving others with God’s love, in serving the Lord, and in following his example. And, that brings us much joy. It is certainly our hope that this will take place, and it is our reward for our service to the Lord, and to others, to see them at peace with our Lord.
Timothy’s Encouraging Report
“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. Therefore, brothers, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith. For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord. 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? Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith.
“Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you. May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. 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” (I Thessalonians 3:6-13 NIV 1984).
Blameless and Holy
One of the responsibilities of the apostles was to give instructions in holy living to the church. So, the church was given instructions by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the teaching of the apostles. The overall purpose of the instructions was to teach the believers how to “live in order to please God,” which they were already doing. Paul then encouraged and urged them in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. And, then he gave them the specific instructions given by the Lord to the church. They were to be sanctified, i.e. to be made holy; to be freed from the control of sin; and to be purified, cleansed and renewed in heart and mind by the power of the Holy Spirit at work within them. They were to avoid (circumvent; outwit; thwart; keep away from; stop doing – Encarta) sexual immorality. And, they were to learn how to control their own bodies in such a way that is holy and honorable to God, not in passionate lust like the worldly and ungodly. And, “In this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him,” said Paul (from the Lord). So, why is that so many believers in Christ Jesus today are still struggling with sexual sin and are not free? Jesus came to set us free! We don’t have to be controlled by sin any longer!! All of us must make the conscious choice of our will to stop sinning against God.
“The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit” (I Thess. 4:6b-8).
When we consciously and willfully choose to keep sinning against God after we have received the knowledge of the truth within us, we are rejecting God, and we are making a mockery of what Jesus Christ did for us in dying on the cross for our sins. He died so that we could be free from the control of sin and could be free to be slaves of righteousness, by the power of God’s grace and his Holy Spirit at work within us in making us holy. So, if you have been giving yourselves over to sexual sin and you think the grace of God covers that, think again. We are not to use our freedom in Christ to indulge in the sinful nature. Or, did we forget that we have been cleansed of our sins? When we received Christ as Lord and Savior, we died to the old way of life, and we were resurrected to new life in Christ Jesus. So, we are to live holy and blameless lives in the power and strength of the Holy Spirit of God within us, we are to live lives pleasing unto God, and we are to avoid all sin, including sexual sin.
A Thief in the Night
Paul said that the Lord would punish men (and women) for all such sins, as he had already told them and warned them. This punishment will take place when Jesus Christ returns to judge the earth and to receive his bride to himself, whom he will reward for her faithfulness (see 2 Thessalonians 1). The warnings continue here:
Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing (I Thess. 5:1-11 NIV 1984).
Peace and Safety
One day our Lord is going to return. For those of us who are in Christ Jesus and who are waiting for his return, his coming will not take us by surprise, because we will have been anxiously awaiting his return. Yet, for those who walk in darkness, who are spiritually asleep, the Lord’s return will be like a thief breaking into their house at night. They will be surprised, because they were living to please themselves and did not believe that God would judge them. Destruction will come on them suddenly and they will not escape. Oh, how my heart breaks that so many people are living in a false sense of “peace and safety” and they do not honor God, stand in awe of God, and they do not possess the fearful respect of God to keep them from willful and continuous sin. I am in anguish of heart over so many who are outside of Christ and yet also over so many who claim to know Christ, and yet are still living to please themselves over and above pleasing God, whom they are supposed to serve.
Paul, thus, reminds the believers in Jesus Christ that they are not in that darkness so that they should be surprised when our Lord returns. Since we no longer belong to the darkness, we should not be like those who do. We should be alert and self-controlled. We should put off the deeds of darkness, and we should put on faith (repentance and obedience) as protection against the forces of evil that would come against our hearts. We should also put on our salvation as our fortification for our minds against the attacks of the evil one. We were not appointed to suffer wrath with the ungodly, but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. Our lives should be evidence that this is true in us in all practical living.
Jesus died to set us free from sin so that we could live with him forever! We need to encourage each other with these words. We are not to be yoked together with the world and with the ungodly in partnership with them in their sins, whether through actual friendships, business partnerships, or through agreement of any kind with the sins of others, which may be our willingness to be entertained by the sins of others, or to be unwilling to risk rejection in order to speak the truth in love with a brother or sister about his or her sins. We must come out from conformity to the world and partnership with the ungodly, and we are to be separate and to not touch (partake; handle; embrace) any uncleanness, so that the Lord will receive us (see 2 Corinthians 6:14-18). May we take this teaching to heart today.
Your Heart / An Original Work / October 24, 2011
Tenderly He speaks, softly so.
Gently He calls - His will to know.
Won’t you invite Him in your heart?
Humbly accept Him now.
Bow before Him with contrite heart.
May you obey His will.
Seek Him with all your heart and soul,
And your heart, His Spirit fill.
Jesus died to free you from sin,
Giving you new life to begin,
Walking with Him ev’ry hour,
Obeying His commands.
Won’t you trust Him to be your Lord?
His grace you can’t afford.
Freely He gives you peace within,
When you turn from all your sin.
Live for Him ev’ry passing day.
Meet with Him; read His word and pray.
Serve Him in the way He leads you,
Doing all that He says.
Do unto others as you would
Have them do unto you.
Love them with Jesus love within you.
Your hearts to God be true.
Song lyrics @ Public Domain
Audio, song lyrics and sheet music:
https://sites.google.com/site/psalmshymnssongs2/home/songs/your-heart
Song on video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc7tEOtSOLM
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