1 THESSALONIANS (Letter 52, Larry Crabb’s 66 Love Letters)
TURN! SERVE! WAIT!
We continue to misunderstand maturity. We are expecting richer experiences of nearness to God. But in this life He more often provides a deepened thirst for Him, a thirst that strengthens us to more consistently turn away from immediately compelling satisfactions, a thirst that keeps us engaged with His purposes in this disappointing world, a thirst that surfaces our desire for what nothing in this life can provide. That’s maturity.
Only in unplanned, unarranged, unwelcomed, unmanageable, and thoroughly unenjoyable dark nights will God’s plan for our maturity unfold. Listen to what an offbeat follower of God, Tim Farrington, wrote in A Hell of Mercy: “You will be graced with the disaster your soul requires to find its way home”. John of the Cross put it this way, “No matter how much an individual does through his own efforts, he cannot actively purify himself enough to be disposed in the least degree for the divine union of the perfection of love”.
Our frustration with everything else, including ourself, makes it possible to turn in deeper dependence to God. Our weariness requires the strength of supernatural love to continue serving God. Our haunting sense of futility shuts us up to a kind of endurance that can be sustained only with hope in His Son’s return.
John Owen wrote, “Older, more experienced Christians often have more troubles, temptations, and difficulties in this world. God has new work for them to do. He now plans that all the graces they have be used in new and harder ways. They may not find their spiritual desires to be as strong as before or have such delight in spiritual duties as they had before. Because of this, they feel that grace has dried up in them. They do not know where they are or what they are. But in spite of all this, the real work of sanctification is still thriving in them, and the Holy Spirit is still working effectively in them. God is faithful. Therefore, let us cling to our hope without wavering.”
Paul of the New testament, though physically and spiritually exhausted and knocked down with debilitating concerns, kept his soul turned toward God. He was a man of faith. He continued to serve God in the face of frustrating opposition. He was a man of love. And the secret of his endurance lay in his confidence that God’s Son would return to make every wrong right for sinful people like him and that he would see God’s Son face to face, that he would know him in all His glory. Paul was a man of hope. And when Paul heard that his friends in Thessalonica were still turned toward God and serving Him he was ecstatic
1 THESSALONIANS: From Ray Stedman
Click here for entire Bible Summary from Ray Stedman
The Message Of First Thessalonians
Chapter 1 – An archaeological excavation team, working in this very city of Thessalonica, turned up an ancient, 1st century graveyard. And there among the pagan tombstones they found one which was inscribed in Greek with these words: “No Hope.”
But here, in a church in the midst of that city, there were those who had found the endurance based on hope; they were looking for the coming of the Son of God. That is what keeps the heart calm in the midst of perils and persecutions.
Chapter 2 is a wonderful description of Paul’s labor of love.
Chapter 3 is an account of how Paul sent Timothy to them, and Timothy brought back word of the persecution they were undergoing, and yet of their steadfastness in the midst of it. And there is a wonderful description of the patience of hope, permitting them to endure difficulties with joy.
Chapters 4 and 5, the practical section of this letter, are divided into four brief sections which take up the problems that were confronting this church:
– The first exhortation the apostle gives is to live cleanly in the midst of a sex-saturated society. It isn’t a life of your efforts, struggling to live up to a standard that you’ve imposed upon yourself, or someone else has imposed upon you. It is a life in which you are constantly dependent upon the one who indwells you. This kind of life results, then, in a purity that is practiced. If Christians are practicing impurity, that is a clear revelation that they are not practicing a life of faith. But purity practiced is the sign of the principle perceived.
– The second problem he takes up is the matter of living honestly, get busy and work and not have to depend upon somebody else for support.
– the major problem this book addresses – the misunderstanding about the coming of the Lord. Now there are two “days” we need to distinguish in Scripture: The ‘day of Christ’ concerns believers, while the ‘day of the Lord’ refers to what is happening to unbelievers during this time. They did not need to be discouraged, or frightened, or distressed, but they could go on about their business, confident that God was in charge of affairs. And although times were difficult, they could busy themselves about the work of the Lord, knowing that they were only investing themselves in a certain future.
– The last section speaks not only of living confidently, but of living peacefully in the midst of these conditions.
Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. {1 Th 5:16-18 RSV}
1 THESSALONIANS – David Jeremiah (Understanding the 66 Books of the Bible)
Key thought: Christ is coming quickly!
Key Verse: Now may the God of peace Himself sancify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5:23
Key Action: Since Christ may come at any moment, we should live productively, faithfully, and expectantly.