Saturday, July 9,
2016, 4:47 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Near the Cross.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12 (ESV).
Encouraging Others
(v. 1)
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.
We all need encouragement, not just the kind that cheers us
or that reassures us, but also the kind that inspires, reinforces, and that
urges us to live holy lives, pleasing to God.
In today’s world, and in the worldly church, encouragement
is often presented only as that which makes us feel good about ourselves, but
it also means to spur, to urge, and to incite, i.e. to move someone to action. So,
if we are in a situation that calls for someone to motivate us to move to a
particular action, and all someone does is pat us on the back and reassure us that
we are ok just where we are, then that person truly has done nothing to
encourage us, or to help us, or even to show love to us.
Yet, if we do encourage others in a way in which we urge them
to change course, or to progress in a particular direction, we may be accused
of being negative, critical, and/or of discouraging and disheartening others. I
believe these accusations are purposeful, as Satan does not want us to be urged
to change course, and so he presents love as something which just accepts
people where they are, and as that which just makes them feel good inside.
Yet, the Bible teaches love, not as something which just makes
us feel warm and fuzzy all over, but as something for which we give up our
lives (our reputations, time, energies) to help meet the legitimate needs of
others; and as that which considers what is in others’ best interest over our
own reputations, and over our own personal comfort. In other words, if we truly
love people, we will share with them the true gospel of salvation, and we will
urge them to live holy lives, pleasing to God, even if it gets us hated and
falsely accused in return. And, we will do so because we care about others’
true needs, and their relationships with God, and their eternal destiny more than
we care about whether or not people are going to like us.
Your Sanctification
(vv. 2-8)
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.
“Sanctification” is a big word that not everyone understands
its meaning. According to Strong’s Concordance, it means “the process of making
or becoming holy, set apart, sanctification, holiness, consecration” (See:
biblehub.com). According to Helps Word-Studies, it means “the process of
advancing in holiness; use of the believer being progressively transformed by
the Lord into His likeness” (See: biblehub.com). And, the word “holy” means to
be set apart for God, and from the world (different, unlike the world) because
we are becoming like Jesus.
When we believe in Jesus, we are crucified with Christ in
death to sin and we are resurrected with Christ in newness of life, “created to
be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:24). So, this life-long
process of sanctification begins when we die with Christ to sin and we are born
anew of the Spirit of God (See: Ro. 6:1-23; Ro. 8:1-14).
So, what should this “sanctification” look like in our
lives? Well, first of all it means that we are turned from darkness to light,
and from the power of Satan to God that we might receive forgiveness of sins
and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Jesus Christ (See: Ac.
26:16-18). It means we deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin and
self) and follow (obey) Jesus Christ. It means we lose our lives (are crucified
with Christ in death to sin) so that we might have eternal life with God (See:
Lu. 9:23-25). And, it means that we live our lives in the power and working of
the Spirit within us like we believe that Jesus Christ died that we might die
to sin and live to righteousness (See: 1 Pet. 2:24).
What this means in all practicality is that we no longer
live like the world lives. We don’t immerse ourselves in today’s culture in
order to relate to the world thinking we are somehow going to influence people
for Jesus Christ. Jesus, although he lived in the world, was not of this world.
He did not copy their customs, and he did not follow their human traditions,
and he did not sin, nor did he applaud sin in others. And, neither should we.
This is not saying that once we become Christians that we will live in sinless
perfection, but it means we will die daily to sin and live daily to
righteousness; that we will walk according to the Spirit, and no longer according
to the flesh, and that by the Spirit we will daily put to death the misdeeds of
our sinful flesh in order that we might live with God for eternity.
So, that means that our lifestyles should reflect this
teaching from God’s word. We should not be engrossing ourselves in the things
of this world - in their philosophies, morals, ethics and values - but we
should be bathing ourselves in the Word of God and we should be doers of the
Word and not hearers only. In other words, we can’t spend the majority of our
non-working hours filling our minds with what is worldly, evil, and immoral,
and even applauding or being entertained by the sins of others, and then expect
to live holy lives pleasing to God. We need to get rid of what is hindering our
walks of faith so that we can run with perseverance the race God has marked out
for us. We need to cut those things out of our lives which are dishonoring to
God, and we need to let Christ rule in our hearts and to determine our steps
and guide us each day in the way he wants us to go.
Brotherly Love (vv.
9-12)
Now
concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you
yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, for that indeed is what
you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you,
brothers, to do this more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind
your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that
you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.
When we truly love our brothers and sisters in Christ, or
the people of this world, we do not do to them what will cause them harm. I
believe this includes willfully withholding from them what we know will benefit
them because we are more concerned about people liking us. In other words, we
can harm others physically, spiritually and/or emotionally either through
willful or thoughtless actions towards them or through holding back what we
know they need because we are thinking about ourselves more than or in place of
loving them. The Bible calls sin, not just things like lying, cheating, stealing,
and committing adultery, etc., but it says if we know the good we ought to do,
and we don’t do it, it is also sin.
Near the Cross
Fanny J. Crosby / William H. Doane
Jesus, keep me near
the cross;
There a precious
fountain,
Free to all, a
healing stream,
Flows from Calvary 's mountain.
Near the cross, a
trembling soul,
Love and mercy found
me;
There the bright and
morning star
Sheds its beams
around me.
Near the cross! O
Lamb of God,
Bring its scenes
before me;
Help me walk from day
to day
With its shadow o'er
me.
Near the cross I'll
watch and wait,
Hoping, trusting
ever,
Till I reach the
golden strand
Just beyond the
river.
In the cross, in the
cross,
Be my glory ever,
Till my raptured soul
shall find
Rest beyond the
river.
No comments:
Post a Comment