Prayers

1 Thessalonians 1

Lord God, we give thanks to You for the blessing of Your church.  You have chosen us for Your glorious purposes.  Move us forward in word and work in accord with the hope that is ours in Christ.  Fill us with Your Spirit that we might truly serve You through whatever afflictions we may face in this life.  We turn away from all idolatry with a confident expectation that Your Son has delivered us from the wrath to come.

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1 Thessalonians 2

Our Father, we love our brothers and sisters in faith.  Together we believe the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.  With Your scattered children throughout the world we know the blessings of Your Holy Spirit.  With warm affection we constantly lift them up to You in prayer.  We love Your Son and we thank You sincerely for His people.  You have called us into Your own kingdom and glory.  Your Word is at work within Your church.  We receive it with joy.  Others may persecute Your children and blaspheme Your Name, but You will grant them help in the day of trouble.  When we hear good news of Your church, our hearts rejoice out of sincere love for Your people.  Surely this love comes from You.  Please help all those who wait for Your deliverance even now.

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1 Thessalonians 3

Sovereign Lord, we need to be established in the faith through the preaching of Your Word.  Your people face afflictions everywhere.  The lives and comforts of many are threatened even now.  We long to be together with our suffering brothers and sisters, face to face, so that all of our hearts may be established in the truth.  Lord, help us to live out our lives, not according to the evil devices of the tempter, but according to the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.  We thank You, O God, for the blessings that You have granted to Your people, especially the faithful love and eternal hope that could only have come from You.

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1 Thessalonians 4

O Lord, we hear of the way of the true Christian life, the way of sanctification.  We know that this is Your will for Your people.  Keep us away from all sexual immorality.  Help husbands and wives to enjoy a warm affection for each other, and to be careful not to cause trouble in the marriages of others.  Move us in a holy love for all the church more and more.  Help us to live quiet lives of reverent obedience.  Grant that we would think rightly about our loved ones who sleep in the Lord even now.  Bless us with true faith that we will be with them forever in Your holy presence, according to Your Word.  We are encouraged again with the promise of the resurrection to come.  We embrace this hope with the full assurance of Your Holy Spirit.

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1 Thessalonians 5

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Devotionals

1 Thessalonians 1

We long for a world full of grace and peace.  While we can have a measure of these things now, we live in a world of noticeable turmoil.  Even if we could find our way to some protected island where no one could trouble us, we still would not be able to be rid of all the disquieting doubts and sins that are within us.  As those who have heard and believed the Word of hope, how are we to live in this time of trouble and opportunity as we wait for the appearing of our confident expectation?

In First and Second Thessalonians, Paul writes to a very new Christian church that faced almost immediate opposition from other Jews who had once been their companions in synagogue worship, but who had come to reject the message of grace and peace preached by the Apostle.  Their disdain for the gospel was not passive or casual, but active and destructive.  Some were willing to bring bodily harm on others in their hatred of the message of the Father and the Son.  They were not content merely to drive Paul out of Thessalonica; they even followed him to a neighboring town and stirred up opposition to him in that place.

The account that we read about these matters in Acts 17 and in these two letters should remind us that it is not such a surprising thing for us to find that some have a violent response to the message of divine love.  These kinds of troubles are not signs that we are rejected by God.  Nor are they an indication that something has gone terribly wrong.  They may instead be reason for thanksgiving, for the Lord has permitted us to face some measure of suffering for the sake of the Name of His Son.  If we are able to persevere in works of faith, in the labor of love, and in the steadfastness of hope, that stability is a gift from the Lord, and will cause many to give thanks to God for His work in us.  These troubles are not evidence that the Lord has abandoned us.  We are loved by God and chosen for His kingdom purposes in our generation in the midst of suffering.

When the gospel of the sacrificial love of God in Christ is preached in any place, the reaction to that Word can be varied.  The message could be completely rejected.  It is also possible for Christian preaching to be received, but in word only.  Our reception of the truth is tested when trouble or persecution comes, or when the demands of a busy life resurface after our initial enthusiasm begins to wane.  There is also the possibility that the gospel will come to us in the power of the Holy Spirit.  It is in the midst of suffering that true spirituality is proven.  If we stand firm in the face of danger, the power of God is at work.  This was the way for believers in Judea, and for the apostolic messengers who spoke the Word of the Lord Jesus.  It was also the case for those who trusted Christ in this important city in the Roman province of Macedonia.

Can we find the joy of the Holy Spirit though we may be despised and afflicted by men?  If we can, it is very likely that the persecution we face will not halt the forward momentum of the message of Christ’s death for sinners.  News like that spreads quickly.  Who is standing firm in a day of severe testing?  People want to know that sort of thing, and we have the privilege of being examples to them of the Word of the Lord in action.  It is Christ, our head, who is at work in His church, His body.  Are we standing firm?  Are we still believing and living out the faith in love?  Our heavenly Captain, the Lord Jesus, is the One who should be praised for that victory.

If a message of glory is to be proclaimed involving us, let is be a message of the power of the Lord working through weak sinners, and not the message of our own success.  If we are to be an example to anyone else, may they know for certain that Christ has done a good work through us as His unworthy servants.  Our obedience to the Lord in the face of even murderous opposition is about God’s work in us, and is not a reflection of our own natural courage or ability.  Have we turned from the idolatries of the place we once called home?  Have we begun to worship a God who really hears, sees, and speaks?  He is certainly to be preferred to lifeless statues fashioned by the hands of men.  Even better, we worship the God who became man, and dwelt among His people, demonstrating His divinity, and then dying for our sins.

It is this Jesus we are waiting for from heaven.  He was raised from the dead, and He lives and reigns from that higher realm that we cannot presently see, except by faith.  He is able to deliver us from the wrath to come.  The idols of our hearts and our hands cannot save us.

We have grace and peace from the Son of God who died for us, and from the Father who sent His Son to atone for our sins.  When our grace and peace is seasoned with suffering, it is only so that the genuineness of our faith can be proven to be more than a proud flurry of empty words.  If we live today in a place and time where believing and proclaiming the gospel of the cross-love of Christ will not put us in serious danger, it is ours to make the best use of this time of peace.  But if it is our privilege to suffer the hatred of the enemies of the cross, let us do so as those who have come to see our wounds as a privilege, for the nail prints in the hands and feet of Another have secured our eternal redemption.

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1 Thessalonians 2

We would love to see throngs of people praising God unanimously when we proclaim the glorious message of the Lord Jesus Christ.  There may be many motives for this desire, but not all of them are good.  We may long for celebrity, or for the approval of men rather than God.  It is very natural to want to be liked, and it is not ultimately a bad desire, but it cannot be our first goal in life without serious spiritual danger.  We need to preach as those who have been approved by God and who want to please God, even when what we say may displease men. 

Paul was well aware that the best message that God has ever made known throughout the universe is often greeted not only with disdain and rejection, but even with violent hatred.  In the ministry of Jesus and the apostles, the preaching of salvation through a Redeemer normally caused a division among those who hear it.  Some embraced it as life, while others considered it to be unworthy of their trust.  Given this fact of a divided response, it is of great practical importance to the church that her preachers not demand universal approval in order to continue with their efforts.

The fact that the death and resurrection of Christ for us is good news is not dependant upon our approval ratings.  The message of Jesus is the good news of God.  It will not get better by our adding error, impurity, flattery, or deception to it.  It is perfect.  Instead of attempting to change what cannot possibly be improved, the message recorded for us in the Scriptures, we should give more serious attention to something that could be better, our behavior as servants of the truth.  Are we gentle among the people who are hearing the Word, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children?  Are we affectionately desirous of those who would be our brothers and sisters in the Lord, ready to share not only our words, but also our lives?  Are the people that we want to teach dear to us?  Are we willing to work hard for their benefit?  Does our conduct match the excellent message that we preach?

Our doctrine has everything to do with a righteousness that is not our own.  We know that the cross would have had no power if the One who willingly died there for us had been lacking in that love which is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets.  We cannot improve His righteousness by changing the Bible to please our detractors, but we can easily distract from God’s Word through our own unrighteousness.  That means we need to consider our ways.

Attention to life is not only for apostles and ministers of the Word.  Paul says here that the church in Thessalonica needed to walk in a manner worthy of God, especially in an environment of significant persecution.  Our behavior can be witnessed by others, even though it is not our intention to put on a show of our obedience.  People are fairly perceptive.  They pick up clues that we may be hiding from ourselves.  Ministers can be seen and known, and so can those who make up the beloved body of Christ.  Our life of love matters, and it needs to be genuine.

There was much to thank God for concerning the church in Thessalonica, this despite the fact that Paul was only able to preach there for three Sabbaths because of the persecution that erupted out of the synagogue there.  We could look at the facts of this ministry and conclude that there was much cause for a godly lament, and we would be right.  People in the church were suffering unjustly.  Many Jews had utterly rejected the good news of the Jewish Messiah.  They were actively attempting to prevent the expansion of the message of salvation through Jesus from having any positive reception by the Gentiles in that region.  Paul had wanted to come to them many times, but Satan had hindered him.  These are very sad facts.  Yet Paul writes to the church that he and those who are with him in this apostolic mission are thanking God constantly for the way that the new church in Thessalonica received the word of God as what it really is, a definitive message from the Creator and Sustainer of the world, a word that must be received with full trust, a word that is not only to be believed, but which must be at work in and among believers.  This good testimony could not have taken place in the absence of suffering.

The story of the rejection of the gospel of Christ by so many Jews is a very sad story, but it is not a different story than the rejection of the Old Testament prophets by the people of God in their own day, only a new chapter of that same Old Testament story.  Thankfully this rejection of the Son of God is not the final chapter in God’s dealings with the Jews.  Though many Jews have not received Jesus as the Messiah, the fact is that many Jews have embraced Him, and have been willing to suffer for the sake of the Man who suffered so powerfully for our salvation.

The final chapter of the Lord’s dealings with mankind involves the fullness of His wrath against His enemies and the fullness of His mercy.  As the reception of the message of Christ has been a divided issue over the centuries of its proclamation, the fact of Christ’s return will also be a matter of division.  For those who see their own unworthiness and flee to Jesus, the fact of His coming, and even the present faithfulness of the body of Christ under lamentable trials, is a matter that has become our hope, our joy, our crown, and our glory.  We will be with Him, and we will be together.  This is why we can be full of thanks to God even now.  Those who reject Him and persecute His church need to consider what their reaction will be in the day of His coming.

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1 Thessalonians 3

Paul loved his ministerial companions, but he was willing to be parted from Timothy for a time so that he might gain a first-hand report from his son in the faith about the persecuted new church in Thessalonica.  He had a gospel affection and concern for the people in this church, though he had spent very little time with them.  This is something that is a common Christian experience in every era.  We may find ourselves genuinely concerned about some brothers and sisters in the faith that we have never even seen, but our sense of connection with others in far-off churches grows dramatically by our experience of visiting them in person and sharing with them, if only for one or two weeks, something of their lives.

That kind of experience makes sense for those who follow a God who was willing to visit us in person, and who has borne our grief and carried our sorrows.  Christ not only has affection for us, He has proven His love.  He gave His life that we might live.  This is the One we worship, and it is completely appropriate for us to have not only feelings of love for others in far-off places who are a part of the Lord’s household, but even to be able to build on such gospel impulses with sacrificial gifts and works that display the love of Christ in person to others.

Paul’s concern for the church was in part based on the persecution that forced the apostle out of the city in the first place.  He sent Timothy to find out how everything was going, but also because he saw the ministry of the Word as an important weapon in the fight for this church.  In any kind of battle, we should expect both sides to have some power at their disposal.  The forces against the gospel should not be underestimated.  Affliction against the church can be very powerful.  Some who profess faith in the Lord may be knocked off course by the unpleasantness of those against them.  But we have power too.  It is with this in mind that we need to consider the ministry of the Word.  Here is the force of God by the power of the Spirit working through the words of this young servant Timothy.  When Paul sends Timothy to Thessalonica, he expects that his words will be powerful by God’s own power, helping the church to hold on to the faith.

The force of gospel enemies should not surprise the church.  It is part of our ministry of the Word to warn the beloved concerning the fact of opposition to the message of Christ.  This is an element of the message of the cross.  If they treated the King of glory that way, do not be surprised when His foot-soldiers face enemy fire.  But remember that the Lord won through His suffering.  There may be something of that kind of winning happening amongst us if we face significant persecution.  If so, it is our destiny, for it is by the Lord’s hand that we are privileged to suffer for His name.  We have been entrusted with suffering as a gift.  It may require a faithful minister of the Word to remind us of this strangely comforting truth.

Ultimately our battle is not against flesh and blood.  Some who may be throwing rocks against us today we expect to be fresh recruits for the Lord’s family of love tomorrow.  The tempter seeks not only that we would shrink in the face of the one who threatens us as his enemy.  He also would strike a blow against us by filling us with an ungodly hatred of others.  If we turn away from the life of Christian love, we may bring disgrace upon those who led us to faith. 

Thankfully the news from Timothy is far better than this fear.  The saints in Thessalonica continue to have belief and trust in the Lord who persevered in love for us to the end.  They are living out their faith in love, and they remember Paul and the messengers of the cross with gratitude, longing to see them again.  This is good news three times over.  The gospel itself is good news; when it is believed it is good news, and when young faith holds steady in the face of a formidable foe it is good news yet again.  Though Paul himself will continue to face affliction as he serves the Lord, it is no small aid to him to hear this report.  It helps us to know that the Lord is blessing.  We understand from the Scriptures that He is for us, but it helps to have this truth supported by the progress of the church, especially when a concerted effort against the Lord’s people has failed.  Thank God for His many blessings!  We need them all.

That helps encourage us further in our prayers, since we see fresh evidence that God hears our cries.  We thank Him for His abundant mercies.  The greatest mercy we have is the cross.  If everything else is taken away, nothing can separate us from that perfect expression of love.  But we will take all of the Lord’s help for us as we seek the glory of His Name in a dangerous world.

A report like Timothy’s is very good, yet it is still not enough for people who know the blessing of a visit from God in the person of Jesus Christ.  Loving Him, we love His people.  We cannot be fully satisfied until we see the ones we love in person.  Most of all we long for the return of our Savior.  On that day we will have the blessing of His return forever, and He will not come alone.  He will have with Him all who are His, even the great church in Thessalonica from so long ago, and Paul, Timothy, and so many others who have known the love of God expressed to us so powerfully in Christ.  Until that day may we continue to grow in love and holiness as those long for His appearing.

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1 Thessalonians 4

The Apostle Paul received an excellent report regarding the faithfulness of the church in Thessalonica in the midst of persecution.  In that kind of environment it is not safe to simply hear kind words noting our spiritual achievements.  That’s good, be we need to remember that the battle continues, and we each need to take our spots in the kingdom, remembering that we have been called by the Lord to serve and to grow in our time and place.  If we know anything about how we are to live a life that would be pleasing to God, we need to put that knowledge into practice. 

Let’s be specific.  Israel was delivered from Balak’s desire to have Balam curse them in the wilderness, but Balam’s efforts to lead the men into immorality still ended up proving deadly.  It will not be good for the church in Thessalonica to stand strong against the onslaught of Jews and Gentiles who hate the message of Christ, only to sin against one another by lack of self-control in this and other areas of life.

It is God’s will that the church be sanctified.  Congregations that are facing brutal persecution are not immune to the mortal dangers of unsanctified living.  Paul speaks about such things not because he likes to judge other people, but because he loves the church, and he does not want to see people committed to behavior that could be deadly for them and displeasing to the Lord.  This matter of pleasing the Lord with our lives does not receive enough of our quiet but serious attention.  Dangerous sexual practices are not to be criticized just because of the facts of human biology and disease, though these are serious enough.  The real problem with all kinds of sin is that there is a battle going on wherever the gospel is being preached, and when we ignore the life that God calls us to, this could mean danger from Him.  That does not mean that He has withdrawn His electing love from us, may it never be!  But it does mean that we may die.  As Paul says here, “The Lord is an avenger in all these things.”  And also, “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 not only about what we do not do, but about what we must be committed to from the heart as a positive way of life.  We are to love one another.  Paul had already commended the church for this, but they must continue to pursue love.  This does not mean self-promotion.  There is something very unattractive about our protest that we are a humble and loving people.  It would be better for us to live a quiet life, and to set this as a goal, rather than assuming that celebrity in Christ-likeness is the key to our happiness.

There is a way of life that is being recommended her that is consistent with living long on the earth, much as we are encouraged by the fifth commandment, telling us to honor father and mother.  Yet this life of sexual fidelity, attention to our own duties, hard work, and a certain kind of appropriate independence with generous quiet giving still ends with death for ever person who hears this letter from the apostle Paul.  They all died.

Paul addresses the fact some brothers and sisters in the church have already died.  He speaks of these people as those who have “fallen asleep.”  These loved ones God will bring with him when the Lord returns at the culmination of the age.  Our plain understanding of what is to come is to be an encouragement to us as we live for the Lord.

These expectations begin with Christ Himself.  Our Savior has died, and His death meant something for us.  The reason we acknowledge a future for those we have lost is because we believe that His death was somehow connected to the people of His kingdom that He came to save.  Jesus died and rose for us, and we are in Him.  Through Jesus, those who have faced death will be brought back with him when He returns in glory.  Those who are able to live in the light of these future facts will still grieve the death of loved ones, but they grieve as those who understand this expectation of the future, which is a hope of eternal life.

This comes not from the religious imagination of the minds of desperately grieving people.  This comes from the Word of the Lord who came from heaven, and has now ascended back into heaven.  The Lord who lives and reigns from on high will descend from heaven with the sounding of the great trumpet of the Lord.  The Lord died in connection with the Jewish feast of Passover.  His resurrection took place on the feast of Firstfruits.  The pouring out of the Holy Spirit happened on Pentecost.  Now we are waiting for the sounding of the trumpet of God.  The Lord will return and He will come with His beloved, and we who remain until that day will be caught up with the Lord in a new realm.

Whatever else might be said about this future life of more blessing, we can surely say this: We will be with the Lord from that moment onward.  We will always be with the Lord who gave His life that we might live.  We will always be with the Lord who has gone to heaven to prepare a place for us.  We will be with the One who said, “I and the Father are one.”  We will be with this one-and-only Jesus.  If we must be persecuted for saying that to be with Him is better than anything else, so be it.  One day we will be with the Lord forever.  This is a word of the greatest encouragement to us as we fight the fight of faith in the present momentary affliction.

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1 Thessalonians 5

There are things that we need to know about the future, and there are many other things that we do not need to know.  Unfortunately we have a tendency to give ourselves over to that which God will not tells us, and to count as of little consequence that which He has revealed.  We would do well to keep these three clearly revealed things in the front of our minds:

1. A Day of Judgment is indeed coming.  It is coming quietly, without a lot of preparatory signs, the same way that a thief comes in the middle of the night.  On that day, people will be living their lives as if nothing is ever going to change.  They will be sure that life is safe and wonderful, and suddenly destruction will come upon them, and they will not escape.

2. The church is not supposed to be surprised by this coming Day.  That is not because we know when the Day will come, or because we will be experts at reading the cosmic indicators at that last minute, but because we are to always be in a state of constant readiness.  If you and I lay down our heads for a peaceful rest, we can consider that we may very well wake up in heaven, or even to the sound of the Lord’s return.  Others live in darkness and drunkenness, even if they never touch a drop of wine and the sun is bright and high in the sky.  They are unaware of the facts of heaven and of God, so they do not expect anything to ever come to any conclusion.  We may be blind and fast asleep, but we have been granted a sober understanding of the limits of this present existence.  We are always waiting for the fullness of the Lord’s promises to arrive

3. Our beliefs about the future inform the way we live our lives today.  We are keeping the faith, expressing that faith in love, and setting our minds on the life that is coming with a living hope.  The ground of this faith, love, and hope is this: We have come to understand that we are no longer destined for wrath, but that we shall obtain the fullest blessings of life through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us.  Our acceptance by God does not depend on our living on this earth until He returns.  If we die, we go to live with Christ in the present heavens, though our mortal bodies “sleep” in the grave.  If we live, we live as those who are awake to the truth of the Lord Jesus, waiting for His return, and encouraging one another through our present difficulties with the sure hope that we have in the life to come.

Just to review: 1. A Day of Judgment is indeed coming, 2. The church is not supposed to be surprised by this coming Day, and 3. Our beliefs about the future inform the way we live our lives today. 

In this new life of faith, love, and hope, we are not alone, but part of a community, the church.  Within that worshipping assembly, God has given some who provide leadership according to His Word.  Theirs is an important work, and we are told here to respect them and to esteem them very highly in love because of the work that they do.  We have come to see that these shepherds are watching over the flock for our good, and we thank God for their efforts of spiritual oversight.  This is not some heavy-handed system of micro-management of people’s lives, but the care of friends who have been chosen by God to be examples to others of sacrificial love.  As they follow Christ, we can safely follow them.  This helps to seek unity and peace among those who want to love and serve the Lord together.

This way of life for us is a beautiful one, though it may not win us fame among men.  We want to live out this kind of quiet life of diligent service, patiently helping the weak, and pursuing together what is true, good, and beautiful.  We do not want to be loudly denouncing others or bringing harm upon those who do not agree with us.  Instead we bear patiently the insults we may receive from those who reject the message of the cross and resurrection, and we pursue peace.

Let us put off glum despondency as much as it is within our power to do so.  Remember the love of Jesus for you and be happy.  Rejoice always! Pray without ceasing, since God is listening.  In everything give thanks, for your heavenly Father loves you and provides you with many encouragements if you will only lift up your head today and see them.  Is the sun shining again?  No?  Then even the clouds are a gift for you.  Look and see the day that God has made for you.  Has He entrusted you with some problem?  Call upon His name, so that He knows you are there, that you love Him, and that you appreciate what Jesus has done for you.  He will never forget you.

Then open up the Word of God again and read the next chapter.  Do you know that God used His Holy Spirit in the lives of apostles and prophets to bring to you the words that you are reading today?  Do not despise the Scriptures.  Take them in as a person who wants to hear from God.  And the Lord will carry you through another day, holding on to every good thing in front of you, and turning away from every evil snare.  This is the way that the God who sent His Son to suffer for you will give you peace today.  He can keep you going like this every day until you wake up in heaven, or until you are happily jolted awake by the sound of a trumpet announcing the glorious news that heaven has come to you and renewed the earth even before you had a chance to die and go to that place of blessing.  This is the way to live in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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