1 Thessalonians 5:1-3 ESV
“Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.”
In what primary way today are people saying, “There is peace
and security?” I believe it is with this altered gospel message which makes no
demands for repentance, obedience, or submission to Christ as Lord. For it
assures the one who professes faith in Jesus Christ that all his sins are
forgiven and now heaven is guaranteed him upon death, and that it can’t be
taken away from him no matter how he lives from this point forward.
And so there are a massive amount of people, at least here
in America, who have said some words after someone else in what is supposed to
be a prayer to the Lord, or they have made some kind of a verbal acknowledgment
of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of their lives, but not many of them are
living what they profess. For many of them are being taught that obedience, repentance,
and submission to Christ are not required for salvation from sin.
And so they are being told that their salvation is secured,
and it can’t be taken away, and so heaven is guaranteed them when they die, and
that there is nothing that they can do to lose their salvation. And so many of
them feel at liberty to continue in deliberate and habitual sin for they are
convinced their sins will not be held against them. And many are taught they
will never have to suffer and that they will be raptured, so no worries.
But those who are teaching all of that are those who dress
the wound of God’s people as though it were not serious, saying, “Peace, peace,”
when there is no peace. They say, “You will not see the sword or suffer famine.”
They preach lies in the name of Jesus from the delusions of their own minds. And
they say to those who despise the Lord, “You will have peace,” and to everyone
who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart they say, “No harm will come to
you” (Jer 6:14; Jer 8:11; Jer 14:13-14; Jer 23:17).
Wow! This is what is happening in the church in America
today, although not in every congregation, but overall. But what do the
Scriptures teach? They teach that we must turn from our sins and follow Jesus
in obedience or we don’t know the Lord and we don’t have eternal life with God.
So many who are believing they can keep on sinning without punishment are in
for a big surprise. Jesus said not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will
enter the kingdom of heaven but only the one DOING the will of God the Father.
1 Thessalonians 5:4-8 ESV
“But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.”
Now, if we are true followers of Jesus Christ, meaning we
have been crucified with Christ in death to sin, and we have been raised with
Christ to walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true
righteousness and holiness, and daily we are by the Spirit putting the deeds of
the flesh to death and we are walking according to the Spirit and we are not
deliberately and habitually making sin our practice, but righteousness is our
practice, then that day of the Lord should not take us by surprise.
For we should all be those who are walking in holiness and
in purity of devotion to our Lord, who are living to please our Lord and not
the flesh, and who are following Jesus wherever he leads us. So, this is a
strong encouragement to us to not change course, and to not get caught up in
the trappings of the world, and to not begin to fall asleep spiritually, but to
stay the course, no matter how hard it gets. We are to remain serious in our
walks of faith and not lose sight of our calling to holy and godly living.
[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom
6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:19-20; 2 Co 5:15,21; Tit
2:11-14; Jas 1:22-25; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10; 1 Co 15:58; Php 2:12-13; Col
1:21-23;
Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 5:3-6; Rom 2:6-8; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn
3:4-10]
1 Thessalonians 5:9-11 ESV
“For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.”
Now, I hear people quote this passage of Scripture out of
context and they say to all who profess faith in Jesus Christ, no matter how
they are living, that God has not destined them to wrath but to receive
salvation, and so they can be assured that they will not be judged for their
sins, and that no matter how they live, heaven is still their eternal destiny.
But in context, that isn’t what it is saying. Yes, for those
who follow Jesus with our lives, we are not destined to wrath but to receive
salvation. But the warning here is to Christians to remain children of the
light and to not fall back into the darkness and to not become like those who
walk in the darkness. We are to stay serious-minded about our walks of faith.
And that is because God has not destined us to wrath but to
receive salvation, which is why we must be diligent in continuing in our faith
and in walking according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh. For we
will face the wrath of God if we choose to walk in sin and not in righteousness,
and if we choose our selfish wills over the will of God for our lives.
[See Rom 2:6-8; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Matt 7:21-23; Heb
10:26-27; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 5:3-6; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Rev
22:14-15]
I
Will Lift My Eyes
An
Original Work / December 12, 2012
Based
off Psalms 121-125
I will lift my eyes to my Lord Most High.
My help comes from Him, who saved me from sin.
He will not let your foot slip, and He who watches will not
sleep.
Our Lord watches over you, and your life He will keep.
I will lift my eyes to my Lord Most High.
My help comes from Him, who saved me from sin.
I give thanks to Him.
I will lift my eyes to my God in heav’n.
I look to the Lord. My sins, He’s forgiv’n.
Because of His great love for us, He made us alive with
Christ.
Through the kindness of our Savior, He gave us new life.
I will lift my eyes to my God in heav’n.
I look to the Lord. My sins, He’s forgiv’n;
My home, now in heav’n.
Praise be to the Lord, who is on our side.
Our help found in Him. He gives peace within.
Those who trust will ne’er be shaken. God will supply all we
need.
Our Lord has done great things for us. He’s our friend,
indeed!
Praise be to the Lord, who is on our side.
Our help found in Him. He gives peace within.
I can count on Him.
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