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Daily Bible thoughts 953: Tuesday 25th August 2015: 1 Thessalonians 3: 1-11: Tell me why.

1 Thessalonians 4: 1-11: Tell me why.(please cliché here for todays passage)

The Bible doesn’t just tell us what to do, but it also supplies reasons for doing it. Yesterday we saw how, in this section, Paul wrote to the Thessalonians about holiness, or sanctification: living to please God. If you read carefully through the passage you will see that he supplies a number of motives for his exhortations to good and godly behaviour. He not only tells us what; he also explains why. Here are reasons for his teaching on holiness:

  • God has called us to such a life (7); it is His will for us (3). He is our Lord and He is to be obeyed (8). We don’t get to write our own scripts; we follow the Lord’s. We are a people under authority; under orders;
  • Reinforcement of previous teaching given by the authority of Jesus (1,2. 9);
  • We are no longer what we were (5). We’ve been called out of the world of paganism and heathenism. Each believer is a ‘’new creation’’ in Christ: ‘’the old has gone; the new has come’’ (2 Corinthians 5:17);
  • We do know God and His ways (5). We are not like others. We have enormous privileges, and a huge responsibility to go with them. There are no excuses for living like unconverted people;
  • God will punish sin (6);
  • Have regard for the family of God (6a). Sin is primarily vertical in direction in that it is an offence against God. But it has horizontal Sin hurts God, but it also has negative effects on people. This is particularly seen in the teaching about marital fidelity. If you have an affair with a fellow Christian you are damaging her husband; you are doing wrong against your brother, and that should not be;
  • To win the respect of outsiders (12);
  • For financial independence.

The last two points above particularly relate to a Christian’s every day work life. A disciple, who is a representative of Christ in the world, should not be a layabout or a sponger, but an excellent worker, quietly influencing the world day by day. If we earn our keep, not only can we look after ourselves, but we will also be in a position to share with others who are in real need (Ephesians 4:28). For Paul, those who would not work did not fall into the category of the truly needy. They were not to be assisted.

Be encouraged that God never calls without also equipping. So everything Paul wrote to the Thessalonians was possible for them (and is possible for us) because of the presence of the Holy Spirit within (8b; see also Ephesians 1:13; Romans 8:9b; Galatians 5:16).

Furthermore, Paul had already prayed about these matters (3:12, 13) and, reading between the lines, was a fervent pray-er for this church.

Let’s encourage one another in a life of growing Christ-likeness, and pray for God’s help. We have every reason to live differently, and we are not alone.

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Daily Bible thoughts 952: Monday 24th August 2015: 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12: The world’s largest room.

 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12: The world’s largest room.(please click here for todays passage)

In this passage Paul outlines certain aims and aspects of Christian living. In today’s thought we will consider what these are. Tomorrow we will look at why we should live in such a way.

In essence, Paul’s call is that believers should live in a way that pleases God (1) and make progress in such a life. There is no time to stand still. There is a repeated emphasis in these verses not only on upright behaviour, but also on advance and progress in the things of God (1b, 10). Where the Thessalonians were doing well, the apostle asked for ‘’more and more’’ of the same. Someone said, ‘’I’m in the biggest room in the world – the room for improvement.’’

So Paul is writing to the Thessalonians about the life of sanctification; of holiness (3a, 7). This is the kind of living that pleases God. It is instructive to note that there was nothing new about this teaching (1, 2). They were, in fact, being reminded of what they already knew. One important facet of the church’s teaching ministry is to repeatedly go over material that people know, but may not be fully living. It’s in their heads, but not yet in their feet! The expression in (4) ‘’that each of you should learn’’ shows, for example, that growth in purity is not automatic; it takes time. (The new Christians in Thessalonica had come from a ‘’heathen’’ background, and it would probably be a lengthy process for many of them to divest themselves of attitudes and practices that were natural to them in heathenism.)

Paul, in this section, writes about three particular areas for growth in sanctification. There is nothing exhaustive about his treatment of the subject, but probably these three things were particularly relevant to the Thessalonians. They remain of great importance to today’s church:

  • Sexual purity/self-control (3, 4);
  • Love (9, 10);
  • Daily work (see also 2 Thessalonians 3:10-12; Ephesians 4:28). It would appear that some of the Thessalonian Christians had, deliberately or otherwise, mistaken Paul’s teaching about the second coming of Jesus. They were sitting twiddling their thumbs in the departure lounge at the airport, cases packed, waiting for their flight to be called! What’s the point of working if Jesus is coming back soon? Paul gives good reasons, as we will see tomorrow.

If you content yourself with standing still in the Christian life, you won’t tread water for long. You will soon start to go backwards. Warren Wiersbe says that ‘’more and more’’ should be the desire of the dedicated Christian.

Prayer: Lord, I am aware of the temptation to stay close to the shore; to just paddle in the shallows. But deep within me I long to go deeper into your unfathomable depths. Please hear the cry of my heart for growth, progress and development. I don’t want to stay as I am.

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Daily Bible thoughts 950: Thursday 20th August 2015: Jeremiah 13: 12-17

Jeremiah 13: 12-17(please click here for todays passage)

Warren Wiersbe, in his commentary on this chapter, places these two quotes at the beginning:

‘’Whoso would be a man must be a non-conformist.’’ Ralph Waldo Emerson;

‘’We need the faith to go a path untrod, The power to be alone and vote with God.’’ Edwin Markham.

Jeremiah, as God’s spokesman in dismal times, trod a lonely path. People, in the main, do not like to hear a call to repentance, or be warned of the judgment that will fall if they do not turn to God. They don’t like ‘Hell fire preaching.’ But although people may live as if sin has no consequences, those consequences will drop by one day, whether they like it or not. Yesterday we saw how this section of the book is full of images of the coming judgment; the devastation Jeremiah saw approaching on the horizon. He heard the galloping hooves of doom in the near distance. Wednesday’s notes looked at three of these pictures. Here are a further three:

  • Banished (19): ‘’And Judah dragged off to exile, the whole country dragged to oblivion.’’ The Message. As the Jerusalem temple was the place where God manifested His presence; the site where the people went to meet with Him, this exile is often seen as being thrust from God’s presence. That is the essence of Hell. If we refuse God’s company and friendship in this life we will not have it in the next. It’s that simple. Someone pointed out that Adam and Eve first chose to hide from God before He removed them from the Garden of Eden. Ultimately, what God will do in judgment is to rubber stamp the choices we have already made. We make our decisions then they turn around and make us, as someone said.
  • Blown (24; see Psalm 1:4): ‘’I’ll blow these people away – like wind-blown leaves.’’ The Message. Here is a warning: we will become like the objects of our worship. If what we worship is ‘’chaff’’ (and every idol falls into the category) then we too will become ‘’like chaff’’ – insubstantial people living for insubstantial things, leading empty lives When the wind of judgment blows through the land we’ll be carried away on the breeze. In ourselves we will always be people of worth as those made in God’s image; but we will live rubbish lives if we reject God for other gods, and our end will be the rubbish pile, whither we are wafted. (Chaff is the useless by-product of the harvesting process. The workers throw the grain into the air, and the chaff is blown away on the desert wind.)
  • Blushing (22, 25-27; see Micah 3:7): ‘’…you forgot me and embraced the Big Lie, that so-called god Baal. I’m the one who will rip off your clothes, expose and shame you before the watching world. Your obsessions with gods, gods, and more gods, your goddess affairs, your god-adulteries. Gods on the hills, gods in the fields – every time I look you’re off with another god.’’ The Message. According to the law of Moses, prostitution was not permitted in the land (Lev.19:29; 21:7, 14), and public exposure sometimes disgraced prostitutes. The picture here is drawn from that. A day is coming when all our hidden sin will be exposed and we will be ashamed. But for those who trust in Jesus and His finished work on the cross, there is a totally different prospect. Why would anyone reject Christ?

Prayer: Although people may like the ‘medicine’ in the message, may I never fail to pour it onto the gospel ‘spoon’ and offer it to all who will drink.

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Daily Bible thoughts 949: Wednesday 19th August 2015: Jeremiah 13:12-27

 Jeremiah 13:12-27(please click here for todays passage)

In this chapter there are a number of images employed to depict the coming judgment:

Drunkenness (12-14; Psalm 60:3; Isaiah 51:17): We know that there was a widespread problem with drunken behaviour in Jeremiah’s day. Many of the leaders (including the spiritual leaders) had drink issues. Here God says that they will stagger into each other like bewildered, panicking, drunken people and thereby bring on their own defeat at the hands of their enemies. People may enjoy the company of ungodly friends, and feel secure in the rosy glow of collective inebriation. But it’s a false security. They will effectively help to bring each other down. It’s like feeling safe in a group as the wine flows and the talk and laughter grow louder, but no-one realises that the whole house is about to collapse in an earthquake. Feeling secure is not the same as being secure. For that you need Christ alone (Matthew 7: 24-27).

Ever-increasing darkness (15-17; see also Isaiah 8:22; Micah 3:6,7; John 12:35; 2 Thessalonians 2:10b-12): If we reject the light we have, we are opting for the darkness. This is what we are ‘ordering’ and we will have it. It will be served up to us. If you turn your back on the light, you turn your face towards the darkness. ‘’He compared them to a traveller on an unfamiliar and dangerous mountain trail, without a map and without light, hoping for the dawn. Instead of the light dawning, however, the darkness only deepens…He wanted to lead them through the words of His prophet, but the people wouldn’t follow. If we reject God’s light, nothing remains but darkness.’’ Warren W. Wiersbe: ‘The Wiersbe Bible Commentary (OT)’, P.1223. Verse 13 takes us back to what we read yesterday in verses 1 to 11. Jeremiah’s contemporaries, in the main, would not humble themselves and listen to God. They rejected the light and headed into ever-intensifying darkness (see Romans 1: 18-32.) They removed themselves from closeness to God who is ‘’light’’ (1 John 1:5). ‘’Let your lives glow bright before GOD before he turns out the lights, Before you trip and fall on the dark mountain paths. The light you always took for granted will go out and the world will turn black.’’ The Message. If you keep heading on into the darkness there will come a point where you can’t find your way back.

Labour pains (21): Doroth L. Sayers, the famous author, said that the essence of Hell is ‘’the truth discovered too late.’’ This verse describes the terrible pain they will feel when they realise that the nation they cultivated as their ally has become their overlord. If only they had trusted in God, He would have been their dependable Ally; but the nation they leaned on turned out to be their enemy. There may be much we can’t say about Hell. There is some degree of mystery about all it will entail, but it will surely involve the burning pain of bitter regret, as the truth is discovered too late!

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Daily Bible thoughts 948: Tuesday 18th August 2015: Jeremiah 13: 1- 11: Life’s purpose.

Jeremiah 13: 1- 11: Life’s purpose.(click here for todays passage)

‘’You were not made for time and for passing things, but for God and eternity, and to have your heart filled with God and with things eternal.’’ Tersteegen.

‘’Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.’’ Westminster Shorter Catechism.

The ‘’linen belt’’ was probably a kind of undergarment worn next to the skin. No other clothing on a man would be closer to him. God had brought the nation close to Himself, but as the belt became ‘’ruined and completely useless’’ (7b) as it was put away from its owner, so the people of Judah and Jerusalem were ruined by pride. They would not listen to God (10, 11). When they were ‘’bound’’ close to God they were fulfilling their destiny. But then pride intervened and became their downfall. It will take anyone down (Proverbs 16:18; 29:23; James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5).

Here are some interesting quotes on today’s passage:

‘’The linen belt (verse 1) represented the close relationship between God and His people. Just as the linen belt was ruined, so will the people’s relationship with God be ruined…Instead of clinging to God like a belt, the people abandoned God and thus hastened the day of their own ruin.’’ Tom Hale: ‘The applied Old Testament Commentary, p.1095.

‘’As long as the people clung to God in humble obedience, He was glorified. When they defiled themselves in pride, they became useless…’’ Warren W. Wiersbe: ‘With the Word’, p.506.

‘’Perath was probably a place not far from Anathoth, the prophet’s home…the Name Perath, however, also means the Euphrates, and the sign makes a connection, therefore, with the empires of Mesopotamia. The reference might be to Judah’s acceptance of Assyrian religion, as much as the threat of exile in Babylon. (Exile, in fact, would have a restoring, rather than ruinous, effect; 24:5-7). The many days of v.6 would then refer to the long period of Israel’s and Judah’s persistence in sin (cf.v.10). This sin was itself, inevitably, the cause of their ruin.’’ Gordon McConville: ‘New Bible Commentary’, p.684.

The message seems to be, then, stay close to God in humble obedience to whatever He tells you. Usefulness will only be found in closeness to God. Get away from Him and you become dirty and spoiled; a ruined child! The way to stay close to God is by humbly listening to His Word and submitting to it. It’s interesting that Jeremiah himself exemplified this intimacy with God. Listen to his own words in response to God’s: ‘’Go and buy…So I bought…Take the belt…and hide it…So I went and hid it…Go now…So I went…’’ (1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7). Amidst widespread spiritual declension, Jeremiah remained close to God: he listened, he submitted, he obeyed.

Thought: You can’t live for His praise whilst trying to live in your pride.

‘’Do whatever he tells you.’’ (John 2:5).

Prayer: Lord, I want to be that humble person, who listen to you and does what you say. But I often feel my heart drawn in the opposite direction. So I cry to you, once again, and ask you to help me be true. Have mercy on me, O God. I need you.

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Daily Bible thoughts 946: Monday 17th August 2015: Proverbs 24: 23-34: The President of Mexico!!

 Proverbs 24: 23-34: The President of Mexico!!(please click here for todays passage)

The prolific Christian author, Charles Swindoll, once quipped that, ‘’Many Christians seem to think Manual Labour is the President of Mexico!’’

Warren Wiersbe writes about a new college graduate who was asked if he was looking for work. He thought for a minute and then replied, ‘’No, but I would like to have a job.’’ The truth is that no-one’s life changes by wishing it to be so. There are things we have to do. Today would be a good time to start!

In the Proverbs passage we began to look at yesterday, there is also teaching about hard work and providence. What did the wise man learn from the field of ‘’the sluggard’’ (30)? It is an important life-lesson about the perils of laziness. (See also 10:4 and 14:23.)

Take time to look closely at the world and consider (32). Don’t live on the surface. Go deep. Take time to reflect. ‘’I took a long look and pondered what I saw; the fields preached me a sermon and I listened…’’ The Message. Somebody observed that the unconsidered life is hardly worth living. Sit under life’s pulpit; listen, watch and become wise. ‘’What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare?’’ What the wise man learned from what he saw is that if a person does not work they will not have enough to live on, and what they do have will fall into ruin. (By the way, some people’s souls are like this sad landscape –covered in weeds and showing signs of ruin. In many, if not most, cases it stems from neglect. The spiritual life is under-developed through lack of diligence.)

It is important to understand that the problem addressed here is not appropriate rest. There is a need for that. God has built a pattern of work and rest into the structure of life, and we ignore it to our own detriment. One very well known, hard-working and productive preacher was known to have his ‘’horizontal half hour’’ after lunch every day. He was often travelling, and he put in long hours, but he found that this pattern involving a short daily nap helped to rejuvenate him.

In terms of work, it is vital to get your priorities right (27). It is important to know that you can live before you prepare a place to live in. If you don’t have any food what’s the point of a house? ‘’This saying teaches us to first establish our livelihood and only then start a family. A wise man plans ahead; he first lays a foundation and then he builds on it.’’ Tom Hale: ‘The Applied Old Testament Commentary, p. 958.

‘’I never did anything worth doing by accident, nor did any of my inventions come by accident; they came by work.’’ Thomas Edison.

‘’Diligence is the mother of good luck, and God gives all things to industry.’’ Benjamin Franklin.

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Daily Bible thoughts 944: Thursday 13th August 2015: 1 Thessalonians 3:11-13: According to your faith.

 1 Thessalonians 3:11-13: According to your faith.(please click here for todays passage)

Ronald Dunn, in his excellent book, ‘’Don’t just stand there, pray something!’’ tells a story about a certain group of Sunday School children who were praying for a missionary. In one letter they wrote to him something along these lines: ‘’Dear Mister Smith, we are praying for you. We are not expecting an answer!!’’

It is interesting to see how many times Paul prayed for the Christians under his care, and how frequently he asked for their prayers for him and his ministry. It is clear that he was convinced about the efficacy of prayer. He believed that certain things would happen if believers prayed that would not take place if they didn’t. He was expecting answers.

So, for example, he prayed that the roadblock preventing his return to Thessalonica (2:18) would be removed (3:10, 11), and he and his colleagues evidently poured a lot of time and energy into this praying. They were ‘’most earnestly’’ looking for divine intervention.

But also, and this is typical of Paul, he prayed for spiritual growth (12, 13). His letters are sprinkled with such prayers. He believed that love would ‘’increase’’, that hearts would be ‘strengthened’ and that holiness would be cultivated as a result of prayer. There seems to be an implication in these two verses that growth in holiness is essentially about growth in love. ‘’And may the Master pour on the love so it fills your lives and splashes over on everyone around you, just as it does from us to you.’’ The Message.

The more we love God and the more we love people the more we will experience the essence of holiness. As Augustine reputedly said: ‘’Love God, and do as you like.’’ This brings us back to the great command enunciated by Jesus (e.g. Mark 29-31). When you boil it all down it’s about loving God and loving people. That is the essence of holiness, and it is something to be prayed for regarding ourselves and others.

Prayer: Help me, Lord, to grow in love. Please pour on the love so that it splashes and overflows and touches many people.

 

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Daily Bible thoughts 943: Wednesday 12th August 2015: 1 Thessalonians 3: ‘There may be trouble ahead…’

1 Thessalonians 3: ‘There may be trouble ahead…’(click here for todays passage)

Recently, my wife and I spent a restful few days at Idbury in the Cotswolds. One morning, I was looking out of the window, watching the birds playing ‘chase’, and I had a sudden thought that if a budgie were to be released into the wild, these seemingly gentle birds would probably reject and kill it. I believe it is a fact that birds will often turn on other birds of a different plumage.

One preacher said that when a person becomes a Christian they make at least two discoveries. The first one is good; the second not so good. First of all, they find they’ve got a whole lot of new friends, and that’s great. But they also come to realise that they now have a number of new enemies, and that, of course, is less welcome. A new convert asked his pastor, ‘Now that I am a Christian, how much of the world must I give up?’ ‘Don’t worry,’ his minister replied. ‘The world will give you up!’

Paul taught the Thessalonians the inevitability of suffering for Christ in some form (3, 4; John 16:33; 2 Tim.3:12). The spirit that crucified Jesus is still abroad in this world, and it is pervasive, and while we live in the world we can expect trouble. It is extremely important that new Christians should be thoroughly prepared for this in the discipling process, so that no-one is taken by surprise or feels mis-led. There is no ‘easy-believism’ in the New Testament. ‘’We did not want any of you to lose heart at the troubles you were going through, but to realise that we Christians must expect such things.’’ J.B. Phillips (3) Suffering in some way is the common experience of the majority of Christians across the world. Satan, like the savage beast he is, seeks to ‘’devour’’ believers through persecution (1 Peter 5:8, 9).There is the very real danger that some may fall away through fear or discouragement etc. This was Paul’s concern for the Thessalonians, and why he sent Timothy to them (5). He was fearful that they might have been ‘savaged’ in the early stages of their Christian experience. ‘’You will understand that, when the suspense became unbearable I sent someone to find out how your faith was standing the strain, and to make sure that the tempter’s activities had not destroyed our work.’’ J.B. Phillips.

Because it’s ‘a jungle’ out there, it is essential that new believers should have a family around them who will stick close to them. That’s what Paul, Silas and Timothy did with the new Christians in Thessalonica for as long as they could (Chapter 2). But when they could not be there in person, God’s keeping power was nonetheless in evidence. Thank God, we can trust His ‘amazing grace.’

Prayer: Lord, help me to be willing to be hit by any of the ‘missiles’ this fallen world hurls at you.

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Daily Bible thoughts 942: Tuesday 11th August 2015: 1 Thessalonians 3: ‘Love Does.’

 1 Thessalonians 3: ‘Love Does.’(please click here for todays passage)

It is instructive to consider how Paul showed his love and concern for the new Christians in Thessalonica:

  • He sacrificed Timothy to go and see about their welfare (1, 2). He went without his friend’s companionship and assistance so that they could have his help. Paul and Silas and Timothy were a close knit team, and it must have been hard to let Timothy go. (In fact, reading the account in Acts 17, it seems that Paul may have been alone in Athens for a time, in which case the sacrifice was probably even greater.) But ‘love does’! Loving involves giving and putting others first. Real love is Christ-like in its quality and one measure of love is, ‘What am I prepared to give up for the sake of another?’ (By the way, there’s a saying that ‘’Two’s company; three’s a crowd.’’ Many of us will understand, from experience, how this can be so. But the grace of God can overcome all natural obstacles, and these three men were able to work together for the cause of the Kingdom of God.)
  • He used words that conveyed how precious they were to him. He wasn’t afraid to let his feelings show. He told them what they meant to him; how much he wanted to be with them and how he prayed that it might be so. He poured this love into ink and letter format. Who should you drop a line to soon, to thank them, let them you’re thinking about them, and that you’re praying for them etc.? Still today, in this digital age, (and perhaps more so because of it), people love to receive hand-written letters. Many will be kept, and even discovered by family and friends after the recipient has died. Letter-writing can be a wonderful ministry in itself.
  • He spelled out the difficult implications of what it means to be a Christian; he warned them about the uncomfortable ramifications of discipleship, just like Jesus did (3, 4). (We will return to this theme in tomorrow’s notes.) But Paul and his team showed ‘tough love’. ‘’Not that the troubles should come as any surprise to you. You’ve always known that we’re in for this kind of thing. It’s part of our calling. When we were with you, we made it quite clear that there was trouble ahead. And now that it’s happened, you know what it’s like.’’ The Message.
  • He prayed. He prayed for their growth in love and holiness (12, 13). He prayed for the way back to Thessalonica to become unblocked so that he could see them again and serve them again (10, 11). He prayed ‘’earnestly’’…’’Night and day…’’ (Again, we will think a little more about the content of Paul’s prayer in Thursday’s notes.)

Still today Christian leaders can apply these timeless lessons from Paul, Silas and Timothy. We are to both show and tell God’s people how much we love them; serving them, sacrificing for them, praying for them, and being totally honest about all the implications of following Jesus.

‘’In the middle of our trouble and hard times here, just knowing how you’re doing keeps us going. Knowing that your faith is alive keeps us alive.’’

This wonderful intertwining of hearts lies at the very core of pastoral ministry. May it be in evidence in every local church!

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