The mystery of godliness

And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness:
God was manifested in the flesh,
Justified in the Spirit,
Seen by angels,
Preached among the Gentiles,
Believed on in the world,
Received up in glory. – 1 Timothy 3.16

‘The mystery of godliness’ is an interesting phrase that I am not sure I totally understand.

I guess that’s because that godliness is a true mystery. It is hard to grasp. I came across something that really seems to make sense those to describe what is necessary for true godliness.



Christ's incarnation         "He was manifested in the flesh,
Christ's resurrection "vindicated by the Spirit,
Christ's appearances  "seen by angels,
Christ's gospel                  "proclaimed among the nations,
Christ's followers         "believed on in the world,
Christ's ascension             "taken up in glory."

Seen that way it seems to make a lot of sense. Here we have the whole mystery explained in one simple chart.

Now that I see it that way it really is a beautiful picture of all that Christ accomplished. The mystery of our godliness is all focused on Christ and what He did. He came, He died and rose again, He was seen, He was proclaimed around the world, He was believed on in this world, and then taken up into glory.

Praise God for a mystery revealed!

The House of God

These things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly; but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. - 1 Timothy 3:14-15

The church is important to God. The church is the universal body of Christ as manifested and displayed in the local church. It is the pillar and ground of the truth. The church is charged with standing for truth. We are called on to promote God’s truth and to share it with the world around us. We hold the truth. We need to stand on it and share it.

But we are also called the House of God.

I find that an extra special description. We are God’s House – His house. We are where God lives. We are His Temple. He lives and dwells in us. Can you imagine the impact of that if we really believed it and really acted accordingly?

We ought always act in such a way that we conduct ourselves properly as a part of the house of God. Are we doing that? Do we look like the House of God?

Godly womanhood

in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works. – 1 Timothy 2.9-10

In our new non-gendered society, some of these things are now seen as almost sexist. If we talk about any difference between men and women and their roles in society people think we are putting someone down. It is a terrible thing because it is clear than men and women are different – no matter what we like it about. We are not and never will be the same,

And that’s a good thing.

God has some different standards for women and this one of the places where those standards are listed.

Here are some Bible standards for godly women. Dress modestly with care and moderation. Don’t be overly concerned with all the fancy stuff and external appearances.

But truly godly women must adorn themselves with good works.

I wish I could tell you how many godly women have impacted my life. My wife is the most beautiful woman I know. She is beautiful physically and personally but of her beauty, for example, come from her willingness to do good works for others. Pastor’s wives have impacted me with their godliness. I have a number of friends who are godly women and who have impacted my life with their modesty and propriety and good works.

Men and women are different indeed, but we are both are called to let our lights shine so that others might see our good works and glorify our Father in Heaven,

Pray everywhere

I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting; - 1 Timothy 2:8

I would that men pray everywhere would pray lifting up holy hands.
Without fear and without doubting.

Paul gives three simple conditions for prayer here:
Holiness
No anger
No doubts

That’s a pretty good standard for praying isn’t it? Obviously, if I ma not living a holy life I can’t expect God to answer my prayers. If I am full of anger my prayers need not be answered. If I am full of doubt I am not really trusting.

I don’t think this is a legalistic requirement for prayer, but something that we need to hear for us.

If I am walking in sin when I pray my thoughts are going to be more on my sin than on talking to God. When I try to talk to God those niggling thoughts about my sine are going to overwhelm my desire to talk to Him.

If I am angry those thoughts of anger will not allow me to think about God. I can’t focus on the goodness of God while I am focused on anger and what I am going to do about it or how badly I’ve been treated.

If I am doubting I am not trusting. Why pray if I am full of doubts that God can or will hear me? Doubts and prayer don’t go well together.

Pray requires the right focus – holiness, no anger, and no doubts.

I speak the truth

for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle—I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying—a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. - 1 Timothy 2:7

Poor Paul – it seems like he was always under attack no matter what he said or did or what happened to him. His biggest enemies by far were the religious authorities who accused him of all kinds of wickedness and lying and blasphemies.

Paul had one real defence – to speak the truth and to do it it faithfully and consistently. He had to be the ultimate truth teller because being caught in one lie would have ruined his reputation. He spoke the truth about his apostleship but he also spoke the truth whenever he spoke.

His example of truth telling is something we all should take to heart. Paul had credibility because he was known for telling the truth so people knew they could trust him. No matter what they said about Paul they could not accuse him of being a liar.

How about us? What is our reputation? Do people see us as truth tellers? Are our reputations such that people trust us? We can’t separate the sacred from the secular. We can lie and deceive on secular matters and expect to be trusted in the sacred. Social media has provided a platform for us to do great good or great evil. Are we as concerned about our testimony there as much as in our daily walk?

“I speak the truth’ Paul said – could we say the same?

One Mediato r

For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time, - 1 Timothy 2:5-6

When Adam and Eve sinned they established a great gulf between man and God. They sinned, the penalty of sin was death, they were guilty and would have to face the perfectly just Judge. There was nothing man could do to mediate for reconciliation. Unless God intervened man would remain lost and without any hope. No work could help. No man could help.

So how did man find hope? Who could mediate the case? Is there any hope at all?

The mediator, if there was one, would have to be perfect. He would have to be able to represent both God and man. Only One could fit that bill.

Jesus Christ became God in the flesh. He became the perfect God/man, 100% God and 100% man.

It really wasn’t much of a mediation according to the way we think about them. God is 100% holy and 100% pure. Man is 100% sinner and totally disqualified from God’s presence. Only God could open that door and set the terms.

And He did. He sent His Son, Jesus, the perfect mediator, in fact the only Mediator, to die for our sins. Jesus went to the cross and shed His blood and to satisfy the perfect justice of God. For the believer, who has put their faith in Christ the mediation goes something like this. The person on trial is as guilty as sin. Everybody knows it, the question of the penalty comes up. The penalty is eternal death. But the Mediator steps up and says, ‘the penalty is paid. He is one of Mine,’ and the account is settled.

I’m grateful for settled mediation in Jesus.

God's desire

For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:3-4

God desires all men to be saved.

That’s a profound statement. It makes us really aware of the task we have before. There is no one we can ignore because God desires that every person we meet to be saved.

When we cop on to that is should change everything about us. We walk through this world see a whole bunch of wacky out of control people living is a world of total chaos. There are plenty of God haters out there. I saw a t-shirt at a demonstration last week that said ‘Let Jesus come back, we’ll kill Him again.’

Hard to imagine isn’t it that God would want that chap to be saved? Why would God bother with a guy like that?

Because God so loved the world. That’s why. All the world. Everyone in it. And God desires that they all be saved – all of them – even that chap in the t-shirt.

That’s why we can’t see others with eyes of the flesh. We see those as Jesus did when he saw the crowd in Jerusalem and his heart moved within Him and he wept as He saw them as sheep with no shepherd.

All men need Jesus, that abusive police officer we see on the news, the violent looters and and rioters, the most insidious criminals and the most corrupt politicians – God’s desire is that they would all be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. That ought to compel us to try to reach those we can and pray for those we can’t - even that chap in the t-shirt.

Pray for authorities

Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. 1 Timothy 2:1-2

After Paul’s introductory comments to Timothy he gets into the meet of his letter with these words – ‘I exhort you first of all to pray for all men.’ He doesn’t just say pray – he says to seek God and talk to Him and intercede for and give thanks for all men. and for all those in authority.

The reason for this is that we may lead and quiet and peaceable life in godliness and reverence.

I think I have had a misconception about this. I think I have been self focused here that my prayer would be for a quiet and peaceable life. Now I think I am wrong. I pray so that I can avoid conflict and battles and silly arguments and THAT is what leads to a quiet and peaceable life. My quiet and peaceable life comes from knowing that I have done what I can do – I have prayed for all men and for all those in authority.

Our quiet and peaceable life does not depend on circumstances. It comes from a firm reliance and quiet rest that comes from obeying His word and trusting Him. For me to be able to live at peace in this world because once I have prayed for those in authority that’s all I can really do for them.

If I’ve truly done that I can live quietly and at peace no matter what the circumstances.

Shipwreck

This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck, of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme. – 1 Timothy 1.18-20

Wage the warfare, Timothy, have faith and keep a good conscience because some others have turned aside and their ministries have been shipwrecked. Paul writes of something in another place where he talks about fearing being a castaway.

From what I am seeing these are not lost men who have been cast aside. It looks lot me like they were men serving God but got their lives so messed up that they were of no use and God laid them aside and let them carry on in their uselessness.

It’s a fearful thing to think that God might may us aside and allow us to be idle and on the shelf as believers. I don’t think there is any indication here of losing of salvation. It is simply a matter of God shelving us until we can get right with Him.

The only way to avoid this is to stay in the fight and waging the spiritual warfare against to the world, the flesh, and the devil.

Don’t get distracted. Don’t turn away. Look unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith.

Wage the good warfare

This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck, of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme. – 1 Timothy 1.18-20

There is not doubt that we are in a battle. Is has been raging since the church was founded. The warfare is talked about all throughout the New Testament. A lot of folks like the idea of being on a fight. The excitement of a war gets some folks fired up and some folks take it a lot more literal than we read about.

The foundation of it all is the understanding that we do not fight this war against flesh and blood. Our weapons are not swords and bowl and rifles and such. Our warfare is a spiritual battle. Our weapons are spiritual to pull down strongholds.

We tend to focus our warfare against people though. We think that we must war against people who are captive to their sin and in the snares of Satan. Instead of wanting to lead them them to freedom we seem to just want to kill them all.

I love the way the new hymn ‘O Church Arise’ puts it.

Our call to war, to love the captive soul,
But to rage against the captor;
And with the sword that makes the wounded whole
We will fight with faith and valor.
When faced with trials on ev'ry side,
We know the outcome is secure,
And Christ will have the prize for which He died—
An inheritance of nations.

Our warcall is love
Our enemy is Satan
Our sword makes the wounded whole
Our attitude in faith and valour
Our outcome is secure
Our Captain’s prize is sure

Eternal, immortal, invisible

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.  1 Timothy 1.17


Eternal
Immortal
Invisible
God who alone is wise

What a wonderful doxology of praise and honour and glory.

Our God is eternal. He was before the beginning and He will be after the ends and His is today. The is the eternal I AM. He is eternal so He is beyond the scope of time. He dwells outside of time. All of time is in his sight right now.

He is immortal. Nothing can harm Him. The immortality ties in with His eternality. I am stuck where I am with my brief span of life so I can’t see it all. I only see my spot on the river of life. But God sees it all. He knows ever bend and every rapid and every shallow and He always know what is coming next.

He is invisible. He is not bound by a human body. He is outside the limits that bind us. He can be everywhere and always and He is also:

God only wise. He is the source of all true wisdom. Man has his wisdom and God has His. The things that seem foolish to the world are wise if God’s eyes. Man’s best wisdom looks foolish in His eyes.

So to Him be glory and honour forever and ever – amen.

Chief of sinners

Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.– 1 Timothy 1.13-15

Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst. That’s what Paul said about himself. It is easy for us to sit back in our pride and self-righteousness and pride and say something like ‘no wonder he says that, look what he was like.’ Of course we would have to ignore our own pride and lust and evil thinking and anger and the lot to say that he was somehow a worse sinner that we are.

But Paul isn’t saying that. He says ‘of whom I am chief.’ He acknowledges that he is still a sinner. Even as a Christian he knew that he was still dealing with sin. He wrote all about it in Romans 7.

But when I look at me I feel like I should question Paul. After all, I know me and my own issues. I know what a sinner I am. I know the me that no one else knows and I am not at all not at all happy with what I see.

There is a key balance to find here. Yes, I am a sinner. I may even be worst sinner I know – that ought to keep me humble and aware that I am nothing without Him.

But that’s the key. I am not without Him. I have Him and He has washed me whiter than snow. Though I may be among the chiefest of sinners, I am as we used to say, a blood washed sinner and that is enough to set me apart.
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This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.– 1 Timothy 1.13-15

Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst. That’s what Paul said about himself. It is easy for us to sit back in our pride and self-righteousness and pride and say something like ‘no wonder he says that, look what he was like.’ Of course we would have to ignore our own pride and lust and evil thinking and anger and the lot to say that he was somehow a worse sinner that we are.

But Paul isn’t saying that. He says ‘of whom I am chief.’ He acknowledges that he is still a sinner. Even as a Christian he knew that he was still dealing with sin. He wrote all about it in Romans 7.

But when I look at me I feel like I should question Paul. After all, I know me and my own issues. I know what a sinner I am. I know the me that no one else knows and I am not at all not at all happy with what I see.

There is a key balance to find here. Yes, I am a sinner. I may even be worst sinner I know – that ought to keep me humble and aware that I am nothing without Him.

But that’s the key. I am not without Him. I have Him and He has washed me whiter than snow. Though I may be among the chiefest of sinners, I am as we used to say, a blood washed sinner and that is enough to set me apart.

Abounding grace

Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. – 1 Timothy 1.13-14

Paul writes about his life before he was saved, and any of us could do the same. Paul wrote I was a blasphemes and an persecutor and injurious. We could all have our own list saying things like ‘I was a liar and blasphemer with ungodly thoughts and actions. I was selfish and greedy and lustful and only cared about my flesh.’ 

Paul would still be there. I would still be there. You would still be there apart from God’s abundant, amazing, overflowing mighty grace. It was a grace that saved ‘such a worm as I.’

This notion of abundant grace is that of an overflowing grace with an endless supply. It is grace upon grace poured on top of grace and grace running over. We cannot outgrace God. We can’t use up all of His grace. He is the God of all grace.

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. Without it I would still be trapped in my sin and without it I could not get by day after day after day. That grace if full of faith and love which allowed my salvation and allows me to live day by day by day. 

God enabled me

And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; - 1 Timothy 1.12

I have never felt able for doing God’s work. It is such an awesome and heavy task. There is no way that any of are worthy of doing His work. No one is really able. There are many who are wise in the eyes the world. There are many who are noble. There are many who are strong. There are many who ‘can do anything.’ But even those are not able to do God’s work on their own.

So what does that say about a guy like me who is none of those things? In all the years we have been in this ministry I have never felt able. Many times I have felt like a failure. Far too often I have been on my last legs and ready to quit.

It took me a while to realise that I really am not able in any sense. Nothing in me could make me able to serve God properly.

For some reason though God chose to count me worthy of the ministry and found be faithful and enabled to do His work.

I really don’t get that. Why would He use a lout like me? Surely there are better men than me. I know me like no one else does, but God has still allowed me to be in His service. I think it might do us well to be reminded of what Paul wrote to the Corinthians to see the point of God’s enabling:

For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.

You see, God enables the least like so that we are not tempted to glory in our own strengths and abilities. I know full well that if God can enable me He can enable anyone.

And I don’t think this is just for those in ‘the ministry.’ God can enable any of us to do whatever He wants us to do. All any of us needs to do is to trust His power and let Him work in us.

None of us can anything for Him on our own – but with His enabling power nothing is impossible.

Pure, clear, sincere

Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned: - 1 Timothy 1.5

The end of the commandment of God, the culmination of it all, the summation of the commandment is this – that we love out of:

A pure heart
With a good conscience
With sincere faith

True love is always based on purity of heart and soul and spirit and action. When I read the word ‘purity’ my mind usually goes to things related to moral purity, but purity is much more than that. It simply means that there is nothing to mar or spoil our love. There is nothing to taint it.

True love comes from a clear conscience. Only we know if our love is rooted in a clear conscience or if there is something else motivating us. Sometimes what passes for love can be motivated by a desire to get something out of it.

True love must be based on sincere faith The word for ‘sincere’ originally meant ‘someone who cannot act.’ I love that definition for this word. Acting is the ultimate in not being genuine. You take on a different role that may be nothing like you at all.  A bad actor fails because they can only be them. That’s what this kind of love is, it is just you.   Only sincere faith can produce sincere love must be unfeigned. It can have no measure of fakiness or falseness. It is not hypocritical. It is easy to say ‘I love you’ but it is harder to live ‘I love you.’

It is not really good enough to just love with a wonderful brotherly love, though that is important. Our love must go that step further to be the pure, clear, sincere agape love that makes a real difference to those around us.

Godly edifying

Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do. – 1 Timothy 1.4

Timothy, we are going to see, had a real problem with being involved in the things of this world. He loved to argue, it seems, and may even have been a bit of a contrarian. Wow, do I get that. It is a HUGE issue for me. I love to talk about almost anything and have an opinion of everything even if I don’t know what I am talking about.

Paul made his instruction clear over and over on his two letters to his son in the faith. He is constantly telling Timothy, and us, to avoid such entanglements. I am sure that we will hear more about this later.

For now, though I think we should look at what we should do instead. We ought to spend our time, instead of seeking hatred and division in our petty arguments, seek to edify and build each other up in the faith.

We all need ‘faith builders’ in our lives. Therefore we all need to be faith builders for others.

I have found as the years have rolled by that some of the great faith building comes by how God as delivered us through tough times in the past. James writes about how when our faith is tried it teaches us patience and how when patience matures it makes us mature in our faith. A lot of times we can help build up faith simply by helping people through their trials.

Just imagine if we spent the same about of time building up faith as we do in silly arguments. Wouldn’t this be a great social media guide? What if we saw Facebook and Twitter and Instagram as our personal platform to build up people in faith instead of to tear down?

Warn as a brother

And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet do not count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother. - 2 Thessalonians 3:14-15

What happens when a brother falls? What happens when he sins and won’t repent and do the right thing. How do we handle it? Do we just let it go? Do we kick him to the kerb and move on? Do we handle it somewhere in between and just kind of ignore it?

First of all, we can’t ignore the sin. That would be the most unloving, ungodly, and unkind thing we could do. To leave a brother stuck in his sin would be to say, ‘I don’t care.’

On the other extreme we could just attack and condemn him for his sin and cast him over. The church can be very good at shooting our own wounded. We don’t count this brother as an enemy. Instead we are to warn him as our brother. The purpose of warning, and indeed of everything regarding discipline, it to restore the erring Christian to fellowship with the rest of the body.

Encourage, build up, warn, and love the brother back into right fellowship with God and the body.

Don't be weary

But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good. - 2 Thessalonians 3:13

Boy, is this a passage I have needed to hear over and over again the last twenty-five years. Over and over again I have just felt like giving up after long dry spells or specific hard events.

Back in 2002 our church had a major setback. So bad in fact that everyone not in our family left the church. It had taken years to get where we were and I had had enough. I went for a walk on the canal at sat down on a bench way up at Tandy Bridge to have a chat with God.

I was weary. I was frustrated. I was angry. I was ready to get on the plane and go back to America. I sat down and just laid it all out. And God listened. And God told me ‘when I’m done with you hear I’ll let you know. God spent the next several days challenging my quitter’s heart with this verse and the verse that ‘don’t be weary in well doing for in due season you shall reap if you faint not,’ and ‘seeing we have this ministry se do not lose heart,’ and a reminder about how Jonathan and is armour bearer stood back to back to face the enemy and said ‘God can save by many or by few.’

Yes, ministry can be wearying and wearing and disappointing and discouraging, but we can’t afford to quit. God has called us to a task and when I weary it is only because I am looking to and depending on my own strength. If that’s what I do I will always get weary and I will be tempted to quit. Not wearying means relying on Him and His strength.

Don’t get weary, don’t look to your own strength, we serve the All-Mighty God who never tires of helping us!

Lets look to His strength and move on.

If you won't work...

For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies. Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread. - 2 Thessalonians 3:10-12

Here’s a pretty strict standard – if you won’t work you shouldn’t eat. That doesn’t sound at first like a very spiritual thing to say and it sounds kind kind of harsh and uncaring.

The truth is though that we are designed to work. Our work is so that we don’t be a burden to others who are working. Of course this is contingent on those who are ill or disabled or of age where they cannot work. God intends for them to be taken care of. They are even situations where things are so bad where those who truly cannot work even if they want to. Someone has to be able to care for them so those who can work have to do it.

Paul wrote of some who did not work and because they did not work all they did was to cause trouble. Paul says here that the answer was for them to go to work and get on with their quiet lives and to provide for their own needs. Paul also writes that part of the reason that we are to work is so that we can meet the needs of those who can’t.

Paul says here that those who can work just simply need get quietly get to work and to take care of their own needs, not be a burden to others, and help meet the needs of those who can't work.

Love and patience

Now may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ. – 2 Thessalonians 3.5

The love of God and the patience of Christ. What a wonderful combination that is. Paul’s prayer is that the hearts of believers would be directed to love and patience.

Patience is a wonderful trait. I’m sure that if I could develop patience I would be a much better believer and preacher.

I had never noticed before the connection between love and patience, but it only makes sense. It makes it a lot easier to be patient when we know how to love.

If I love God and trust Him I can be patient even during great times of waiting like we are in waiting for a chance to meet together as a church. I can be patient in praying for friends and loved one and for Him to take care of our day by day needs. I can patently wait in His because He is God and I love and trust Him.

If I love others I can learn to be patient with them. Love overcomes a lot of frustration. Love means that those I am being patient with are more important than me.

But I guess the greatest thing is that I need to be patient with those who need to be saved. It can be hard to wait for weeks or months or years or decades and to be loving and witnessing and praying for lost friends and loved one. We can even be tempted to just give up because there is no use.

That’s not God’s way though. We stay faithful and consistent and loving and patiently wait for them to turn to Christ. My pastor waited decades to see his parents saved, but they were saved. A friend waited decades to see her husband saved, but he was.

Love and be patient and let God work.

Grounded and guarded

But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one. – 2 Thessalonians 3.3

The Lord is faithful to do what He has started. We just looked a few days ago about the basic principle that the Lord is faithful and that ought to give us great comfort. Here we read a specific about His faithfulness.

First of all He has established us. He has rooted us. He has grounded us. He has laid the foundation of our faith anchored in the rock, which is Jesus. It’s a comfort to know that our foundation cannot be shaken.

Not only though has He grounded and established us, but he also guards us today. Wen we read that He guards us from the evil one it doesn’t really mean that devil is not going to be there. It doesn’t say that we are going to be free from his vile attacks. It doesn’t mean that he won’t be able to taunt and tempt us.

It does mean the God who established us will protect us from Satan’s attacks. Greater is He that He is in us than He that is in the world. The Lord is my battle-shield. He is my rock. He is my high tower. He is my fortification. Now matter what the attacks Satan cannot win as long as I take refuge in my God.

I am established in Him. I am protected by Him. What more could I want?

Some don't have faith

Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you, and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; for not all have faith. – 2 Thessalonians 3.1-2

Pray, Paul said, that the word of the would run swiftly and be glorified in His people to deliver us from unreasonable and wicked man.

Because not everyone has faith.

Those are terrible words to read. The mean that because some men don’t have faith our work is never done. That means that as long has some don’t have faith we have work to do and there will not be a deal when all men have faith.

Paul’s request for pray was the it would spread quickly and that His word would be glorified. Even back in Paul’s day he felt like the time was short.

In these uncertain days it may seem like we are bound in many ways. It may seem that our ministries are limited. We must so what we can and then we must pray that the word of God would move swiftly in our world and that it would be glorified in this world.

When Paul wrote his second letter to Timothy he expressed that even though Paul was captive the word of God was not bound. No matter what has happened or what is happening, or what will happen the word of God will not be bound. Our goal is to live it and preach it and pray that it would have free course in the hearts of those who hear it.

As we go through today remember that people all around us need to hear about Jesus and we have the answer.

Worthy of His calling

Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power, that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. – 2 Thessalonians 1.12

Paul’s prayer here is that believers would live worthy of God’s calling on our lives by

Fulfilling the good pleasure of Gods goodness

Fulfilling the work of faith by His power

And the reason why? That The name of Jesus would be glorified in us and that we might be in Him.

Our testimonies in this world are more vital than we think. We can imagine that it really doesn’t matter all that much how I act as long as I just keep quiet and go about my way.

But that’s not the way it is.

Does my walk reflect the goodness of the Lord in my life?

Does my walk reflect a work of faith reliant on His power?

Does it reflect that pleasure of His goodness?

Does it glorify Christ and His mercy in my life?

There is a marvellous song called ‘He is worthy.’ It is a beautiful song written in a choral fashion that ask question about the world being broken and a new hope coming and the fact that Jesus is the answer. The conclusion is that He is worthy of blessing and honour and praise.

The question for me is whether or not I live a way that reflects his worthiness. Do people really see Jesus in me? 

Growing faith

We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other, - 2 Thessalonians 1.3

Faith is the foundation of our ‘faith.’ It is what we trust in. It is where we decided to put our trust in Jesus Christ and in Him alone. We received God’s grace through faith.

But sometimes folks can leave faith there. It can be a like a key that lets us in and then we toss it on the counter and forget about it.

That’s not what faith was ever intended to be. That initial act of faith merely is the foundation that begins a long road. In 2 Peter we read how faith grows – ‘But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.’

Faith can’t just lie dormant. Growing our faith requires our diligence. Our faith should make us virtuous. Our faith should should be guided by knowledge. Our faith gives us self-control and perseverance and godliness and to brotherly love. Finally, faith produces love.

How does my faith look? Does my faith work? Does it reflect growth? Does my life reflect a growing faith in how I respond to circumstances and situations? Is my faith still growing after 46 years?

He is faithful

He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. – 1 Thessalonians 5.24

The Bible way that one thing is required in our walk with God and our service for God – it is required in God’s stewards that they be faithful.

Even that causes huge problems, doesn’t it? I doubt many if any of us could look at our ourselves and say that we have been truly faithful. I have failed in so many ways. I probably fail in my faithfulness every single day of my live. To put it in human terms I do let God down, I do disappoint Him, I fail Him, I wander from Him and I break His heart. Though I am commanded to be faithful, I fail.

But there is a blessed assurance in Christ. The One who called me to His service is faithful. He is the author and finisher of my faith. He will never let me down. He will do it.

Great is your faithfulness, O God my Father. His mercies are new every morning. His  compassions never fail. No matter how far I stray He stays faithful. Sometimes His faithfulness means that He love me enough to chasten me to call me back to the right place. Like the prodigal’s father who faithfully watched for His Son God’s faithfulness means He is always watching out for me.

My faith may waver – His never does. Thank God for His faithfulness. He will accomplish what I cannot do alone. He will carry me through.

Abstain from evil

Abstain from every appearance of evil. – 1 Thessalonians 5.22

I have to be honest. I chose to look at this verse specifically because I heard it misapplied so many times and I misapplied so many times that I am ashamed for mishandling the word of God.

The basic idea years ago, and it may be in some ways today, is that if anything looks like it might be evil, abstain. That in and of itself is not a real problem. It’s the application that was the issue. The guy saying it, sadly including me for a while, then defined what ‘appears’ to be evil. Hippies word beards so beards looked like evil so we should not wear beards. If you went to mall and one of the entrances led to a multiplex cinema you should avoid that entrance because it might look like you were coming from the cinema and one of the films might have an R rating so it might appear that you were at that film (yes, really). You shouldn’t drink grape juice out of wine glass because someone might thing you were drinking.

I’m not making this up. People would tell you what looked like evil to them and you were supposed to conform your life to meet those standards.

It was all about control. This verse has nothing to do with that. It simple means that when evil appears abstain from is – its that simple. It’s like Joseph running from Potiphar’s wife.

We know what evil is – we don’t need someone telling us what looks like evil to them. All we need is the word of God and the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our lives. If I had to worry about what someone might think about everything I do I would live in captivity to a strange sort of legalism. I should never, ever, ever to anything to cause a brother to stumble. I should never use my liberty as an occasion to serve my own flesh, but I can’t be held to the standards of a grace robber who would steal my liberty with man-made standards. As some of the newer translation put it - refrain from every sort of evil that comes our way.

Why complicate this verse. Just don’t do evil – full stop. Instead to good. We know the difference.

Test everything

Try all things; hold fast what is good. – 1 Thessalonians 5.21

‘Test everything’ God says.

We live in a lazy day where people seem really disinclined to check things out. Social media was really fed into that. We retweet and share without a thought to seeing if things are true. That’s a really sad situation be cause when we do that we show the world that our word really cannot be trusted.

There were plenty of false teachers floating around in Paul’s day. They had crept into the church sneakily to spread their pernicious lies. False teachers only succeed when people re not willing to check them out.

We can’t just go along with what we hear. Sure, there is a point where we can somewhat trust people, but we must never be casual about what we hear taught. We must, like the Bereans, examine what we hear to make sure it conforms in the scriptures.

Try everything. Test everything. Examine everything. Don’t be caught out by false teachers.

Then we hold fast to the things that we find are good. It can be tough work. It can require a lot from us. But is is well worth it.

Don’t just go along with the flow – don’t be a sheeple. Check things out for yourself. Secular or sacred we must be promoters of truth, and we can’t do that is we don’t check things out.

Don't grieve the Spirit

Quench not the Spirit.
Despise not prophesyings. - 1 Thessalonians 5:19-20

Most of us probably know the least about the Holy Spirit that about any aspect of the Trinity. Its probably because our minds have a hard time comprehending the concept of a ‘spirit’ who is working in our lives today. The spirit notion can see kind of ethereal so we have a hard time seeing the Holy Spirit as Him instead of an it. We can’t grieve an it – but you can grieve a Him.

So how do we make the Holy Spirit sad?

Fortunately the Bible gives plenty of evidence how we make the Holy Spirit sad. There are several times when we read about it – it almost always seems to have do with our thoughts and our attitudes. The Holy Spirit is here to convict us of sin and to guide us into all truth. He comes to teach and to seal our salvation.

I think probably one of the main ways we grieve Him is by ignoring the word of God. The Holy Spirit breathed His word into holy men who then penned His word for us. When we ignore or refuse to obey His word we despise His work. When we ignore His leading we despise Him. When we refuse His comfort it grieves Him.

I never want to grieve Him, ever. It breaks my heart to think that it is possible for me to break His heart.

He has given us the word of God
He reveals my sin
He teaches me
He guides me into all truth
He in my comforter

How can I take that for granted and break His heart?

In everything give thanks

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. - - 1 Thessalonians 5:18

In everything give thanks – this is the will of God.
Don’t be anxious, but in every situation with prayer and thanksgiving…
Give thanks to the Lord for He is good
I magnify God with my thanksgiving
O give thanks to the Lord for He is good
Give thanks for all things

And I could go on and on and on for pages. Thanksgiving is part and parcel of being a child of God. We are even told in one place to offer up a sacrifice of thanksgiving.

It's not always an easy thing to do. It’s hard to give thanks when a loved one dies or you are told a family member (yet another one) has cancer or you’ve lost your job or you are told that you can’t go to church.

A lot of times we can say thanks, but we only say it because we are told we are supposed to give thanks, not because we are truly thankful.

What we need are hearts of thankfulness. That only comes when I trust that God knows best and that He is in control. It means that I am truly thankful because no matter what I see I trust God to do His work and God doing His work and when He does this and He is glorified that is a cause for thanksgiving.

Be thankful is not only words – if it only words it is hypocrisy. We must seek to have thankful hearts and we only do that as we rest in him and be grateful that He is in control, that all things work together for good for those who put their trust in Him, and that He is glorified even in the hard times.

Pray without ceasing

Pray without ceasing. – 1 Thessalonians 5.17

Simply pray without ceasing.

What does that mean?

It can’t mean that we walk around from dawn to dusk with our eyes closed talking to God constantly. Of course, we still have to live.

What I think is that it means that we are never to give up praying.  We don’t say ‘nothing is going to happen here, I’ve been praying for 40 years and there has been no change.’ The notion of ceasing prayer means that we have given up on God and that we know better than He does so if He’s not going to come around I’m just going to stop.’

Usually though it’s not that – sometimes, tragically, we just start slipping up for a day or two and then we get our of the practice and it just slowly fades away. We don’t mean to quit praying about a need or that person of for God’s guidance – we just start letting it slip.

I can tell you that it has happened to me more than I like to think about. I have drifted away and then read a passage of scripture or or heard a message or something and got back to praying and then done really well and then let it slip again.

God’s plan is that we pray and pray and pray and pray and pray. Jesus said met ‘ought always to pray and not to faint.’ Here it is put ‘pray without ceasing.’ God expects us to be praying children. He wants us to communicate with Him. Pray is not a secondary thing that we do when we get to it. It is an A1 priority – let’s be about it.