OPENING:
If you have been keeping up with our Bible Reading Plan you know that this week we wrapped up the short books of First and Second Thessalonians. Both of these letters were written by Paul to the church in Thessalonica around the same time, and both deal with the same subject, namely the second coming of Christ. This is a topic that has undergone a lot of speculation. Words like “the rapture”, “the second coming”, and “judgement day” may make us a little uneasy. Scripture tells us that it could happen at any moment, and that no one knows the day or the hour (though that hasn’t stopped people from trying and failing to figure it out).
The believers in Thessalonica seemingly had a lot of end of the world anxieties. I feel like we have all felt that way from time to time. Maybe it was a national or global crisis that you lived through, or maybe it was a personal crisis that rocked your world in a profound way. I think it is just part of the human experience to feel like we are living in uncertain times. Paul’s writings to the church in Thessalonica are a reminder that uncertainty about tomorrow is nothing new, and that the best we can do is trust God with our tomorrows and to live out the days we have been given as best we can.
As I read these two letters I was surprised by how much practical wisdom and insight I found. There were many topics that I could preach on this morning, but three in particular seemed to pop up over and over again. So today we are going to be focusing on God’s instruction for living in the last days, and you may be surprised by how simple and practical it all sounds.
So what is The Apostle Paul’s instruction for living in the last days?
- Guard Your Holiness
- Do Good Work
- Stand Firm In Faith
Guard Your Holiness
“Holiness” is a word that we say a lot in church, but we don’t really spend all that much time thinking about what it means. In a nut-shell, something is holy when it is set apart for God’s service. In the Old Testament, when something was declared holy, that meant it was to be used in serving or worshiping God, and was not for common use. Israel was called a holy people because they were set apart from all other nations for God’s service, and because of that they were not allowed to live just like any other nation.
“You are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth”
Deuteronomy 7:6 ESV
In the New Testament, Christ’s death and resurrection has paid the price for our sins, so that we could live in holy service to the Lord. We have been given God’s Holy Spirit so that we can be called, equipped, and empowered to do the work that God has called us to do.
“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’”
1 Peter 1:14-16 ESV
Paul likewise tells the Thessalonian Christians, not to be so concerned about when Christ will return, but instead to be concerned with living holy lives in the times they have been given. He begins by focusing on our hearts, the center of our affections.
Guard Your Hearts…
In the days of Jesus’ earthly ministry, the Pharisees, scribes, and teachers of the law were considered holy men. They had devoted their lives to God’s service and had gone out of their way to conform their lives to the Law of God. But Jesus was not impressed with their outward holiness because they had failed to truly give their hearts to the Lord.
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.
Matthew 23:27 ESV
The holiness of the Pharisees was like a beautiful ornate casket. No matter how lovely it appears on the outside, it is still nothing more than adornment for a corpse. What was missing from the Pharisees holiness was love. They were so concerned with purity that they forgot that the essence of the God they serve is love.
Listen to the mark of a true disciple of Christ in Jesus’ own words:
A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
John 13:35 ESV
It is so simple that we instinctively want to make it more complicated than it is. Brothers and sisters, love one another. Is it any surprise then that when Paul heard that the Thessalonian believers were concerned about Christ’s return, his instruction was, in essence, “we don’t know when he will return, but if he returns in our lifetime, let him find you loving one another well.”
12 May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, 13 so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
1 Thessalonians 3:12-13 ESV
Paul’s prayer is that our love for one another would increase, and not just for one another but for all peoples. When Christ returns we should hope that he finds us loving and serving one another. Those who have been transformed by the love of Christ, and who extend that love to others, will be found blameless in holiness before God at the coming of Christ.
But it doesn’t stop with our hearts. We don’t want to make the mistake of the Pharisees, who were outwardly holy but inwardly dead. At the same time, we would be fools to be focused on inward holiness that does not have outward expression. For this reason, Paul shows us that holy love always translates into holy actions.
These actions are acted out in our physical bodies, which are also to be set apart for the Lord.
Guard Your Bodies…
Listen again to Paul’s instruction for the Thessalonian Believers:
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.
1 Thessalonians 4:3–8 ESV
The phrase translated as “sexual immorality” was the Greek word “pornea.” This was a big umbrella term used to describe various extramarital sexual behavior ranging from adultery and homosexuality to prostitution and pedophilia. The early church lived in a hyper sexualized pagan culture, much like we do today. They had a culture where adultery was tolerated the same way we might tolerate premarital sex. They had temple prostitutes which were readily available to them in the same way many of us have unfiltered access to internet pornography.
God’s word takes all sin seriously, but it places a special emphasis on sexual sins because they seem to have a unique ability to corrupt both body and soul. Listen to Paul’s words of warning to the church in Corinth:
Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never!Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.”But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
1 Corinthians 6:15-20 ESV
If our bodies are set apart for the Lord’s service we should not use them for what Paul describes as “passions of lust”. Sex is a part of God’s good design, and when used in the right context of a lifelong marital commitment, it not only strengthens the love of a man and wife but also results in children, which is one of the greatest blessings God can give to anyone. So protect the gift and use your bodies for what is holy, not for what is unholy.
In 1 Thessalonians 4:6, Paul warns us that “the Lord is an avenger in these things”. God does not turn a blind eye to those who take what he intended to be good, holy, and life-giving, but who use it for wickedness to satisfy their own perverted pleasures. Then in verse 8 he warns us that “whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.”
Brothers and sisters, this is not a man made opinion. We are commanded by the God who gave us our hearts and our bodies to guard them and to use them for the good and rightly ordered purposes for which they were given. When Christ returns, or calls us home in death, we will give an account not only for the love we gave from our hearts, but also for how we used the bodies we were given. Do not dishonor and defile what God has given to be holy.
Guard your holiness, and if you feel like it is already too late to purify your heart or to redeem your body, I have good news. This day is a new day, repentance is always available to you, it’s never too late to change, and God will make it happen.
While we guard our hearts and guard our bodies, it is God whom we trust to guard our soul…
Trust God To Guard Your Souls…
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 ESV
“May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely” the word translated as “sanctify” literally means “make holy”. May the God of peace make you holy, and not just holy but “completely” holy. That word translated as “completely” means “absolute perfection, completeness in all respects.” Paul is praying that God would make you holy in all respects, absolutely holy, holy and lacking nothing.
Your whole spirit. Your whole body. Your whole soul. May God himself make it all holy and kept blameless!
God makes you holy through his Son, Jesus Christ, and he keeps you blameless through the Holy Spirit of God that dwells in you. We are saved because once God gets a hold of us he does not let go of us. Brothers and sisters this is good news! “He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” You may think this morning that you have already done such a poor job of guarding your heart, and guarding your body, that you might as well count yourself out. You might look at your life and instead of holiness you see filthy rags and broken vessels. You may think that there is nothing in you that is worthy of God’s service. But is God not faithful? Does God begin a good work and leave it incomplete?
As God himself told Peter in Acts 10, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” Guard your heart and keep it holy, so that the love of Christ does not fade and grow cold. Guard your bodies and keep them holy, so that you may cherish the good gifts that God has given to you. But never doubt that, if you are following Christ in Faith, your soul is in God’s perfect and never failing hands.
At the same time, brothers and sisters, we were not just meant to play defense, we are called to do more than just keep ourselves undefiled by a sinful world as we await the return of Christ. If you are still here, there is still work for you to do.
Do Good Work
Listen to how Paul begins his first letter to the Thessalonian church:
2 We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, 3 remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 1:2-3
Paul loved to pray for this church body and listed three things of which he was especially proud:
- Their Works of Faith
- Their Labors of Love
- Their Steadfastness of Hope
“Works of faith” is just another way of saying “practicing what you preach.” Put action to your faith. If Christ returns in our time, let him find us not just talking the talk but walking the walk.
“Labor of love” takes it another step because the word translated as “labor” implies working to the point of pain or exhaustion. It is to love until it hurts. We don’t know when Christ will return so let’s not hold out on opportunities to love and serve one another, as if we were guaranteed tomorrow.
“Steadfastness of hope” simply means consistency enduring in hope. Do what you need to do to keep hope alive, but also realize that hope in Christ’s promise of eternal life is meant to inspires us to continue working patiently until the promises are completely fulfilled. We don’t stand idly by waiting for the judgment day. We get to work.
Work Honestly and Peacefully…
God’s Word also encourages us to live peaceful and simple lives, not sticking our nose where it doesn’t belong:
9 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, 10 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, 11 and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, 12 so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.
1 Thessalonians 4:9–12 ESV
This is so simple, but also needs to be stated. Don’t over-complicate your life by getting involved in other people’s drama, and do your best to earn an honest living so you won’t be indebted or dependent on anyone and so that outsiders won’t have a reason to look down upon you.
This is a call to live free of the unnecessary burdens of life. We have a noble calling in life, and so we should cast off anything unnecessary that gets in the way of our calling.
Just because the world tells you that you need to pay attention to whatever is dominating the headlines this minute, doesn’t mean you have to listen. Is it necessary? Will it help me grow in godliness?
Just because your neighbor is going into debt to buy things they don’t need and can’t afford, doesn’t mean you have to do so. Is it necessary? Will it help me honor Christ in my life?
Just because others in your field take shortcuts, lie, cheat, and do dishonest or lackluster work doesn’t mean you have to follow in their example. One day it will catch up to them, but you do the work you have been given to do with honesty and integrity so that your reputation (and by extension the reputation of Christ) will not be tarnished when the lazy and dishonest are caught in their sin.
This is what it means to do good work in the world. But God’s instruction doesn’t just apply to our work in the world, but also the work we do as a body of believers.
Work Together…
12 We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. 14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.
1 Thessalonians 5:12-14 ESV
Once again, Paul’s request to the Thessalonian church is simple but worth restating. First, he calls us to respect those who labor among us and those who are over us in the Lord, even when they admonish us or correct us. I get to spend time with the pastors and teachers in our church and believe it or not, they really do care about you all. Sometimes I wish you could hear the prayers and the compassion and concern they express for you. I also know they would continue to do what they do even if they never got any respect, or honor, or love in return for their works because they are working for the Lord, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t give them the respect, and honor, and love they are due.
Paul also asks us to be at peace among ourselves. Once again, not a new or earthshattering insight, but something we need to be reminded of. We are the body of Christ, let’s do everything we can within our power to not fight or squabble with one another. There is kingdom work to be done, and the time and energy we devote to infighting and conflicts is time and energy we can’t devote to the truly important things.
But conflict is inevitable and so I love the threefold wisdom of verse fourteen. If we see a brother or sister who is idle (someone who is disorderly, out of ranks, or not doing what they should) we should admonish them (remind them of their calling, correct them in love, warn them of the dangers they might be inviting in). If we see a brother or sister who is fainthearted (literally those of little spirit, those who are struggling) we should go out of the way to encourage them (console them, comfort them, literally to speak courage into them). If we feel a brother or sister is weak in some area of the Christian life we are to help them (literally hold them and support them). And regardless, we should always seek to be patient with everyone. This is what it means to do the work of ministry, which is a calling we all have, not just those who are in leadership positions. This is what it means to do good work in the body of Christ.
Since we don’t know when Christ will return let’s do good work in the time we have been given.
So we Guard our Holiness (both Heart and Body) and we Do Good Work (both in the World and Among Ourselves). The last bit if wisdom for living in the last days is arguably the hardest but also the most essential, and that is to Stand Firm In Faith.
Stand Firm In Faith
I think one of the reasons the Christian life is difficult is that it is more like a marathon than a sprint. These things are easy to do in a moment, but life is made up of lots of moments. Faith really shines in that daily act of picking up your cross daily, guarding your holiness day after day, doing the good work day after day. If we are going to do this we need to constantly be refilling our cup from the well of faith.
Listen to the words of the Apostle Paul;
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-22 ESV
Paul encourages us to always be seeking out the good things of God that fill our hearts with joy. Joy is a mark of the Christian life and a frit of the spirit. It is so hard to stand firm in faith when we find our lives devoid of joy, so seek joy and rejoice always.
Paul calls us to pray without ceasing. Not just to pray at special times during the day (though that is a good practice) but to do our best to live lives in continual personal fellowship with God. I think part of living in joy is taking time to remind yourself of God’s presence and giving thanks for the millions of gifts of grace that fill our every day.
And speaking of thanks, Paul tells us to give thanks in all circumstances. The Christian life is a life of thanksgiving, and the more thankful we are the more joy we will have and the more prayerful our lives will be. Brothers and sisters, we can live our lives ever connected with our loving heavenly Father, so why do we settle for a few scattered moments throughout the week. Why quench the Spirit when we can live in the Spirit.
This is how we learn to discern what is good and to avoid what is evil. We can either go through life leaning on our own understanding and our own wisdom, or we can let God lead us and direct us and instruct us in all our ways. If you have ever tasted and seen that the Lord is good, you don’t need me to elaborate on the goodness and joy that comes form his fellowship with us. Brothers and sisters, this fellowship is always readily available to you and we need it if we are to stand firm.
I want to close with one last admonishment from Paul.
So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.
2 Thessalonians 2:15 ESV
Let it be said of us that we too stood firm in the faith of the apostles. Let us always guard our holiness, let us busy ourselves with the good work we were called to do, and let us live a lifestyle that is worthy of our calling as children of God.
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