s188-081907
Alêtheia Christian Fellowship ~ August 19, 2007
1 Thessalonians 4:9&10 ~ 9Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; 10for indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more
The transition from sexual purity to brotherly love is a natural one and emphasizes relationship. 1st Commandment: No other… leads us to love and relationship
4:9Now as to the love of the brethren (φιλαδελφίας), you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another (ἀγαpᾶν ἀλλήλους)
Nothing disrupts the peace of a Christian community more than the unwillingness of members to shoulder their part of the responsibility
Philippians 1:9-11 ~ 9And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, 10so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; 11having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
It was not a perfect church - are you looking for a perfect church, or are you willing to be a part of the change process?
1 Thessalonians 4:11&12 ~ 11and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, 12so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need.
Quiet in the sense of restful not noiseless, i.e. undisturbed, settled, less frantic, not less exuberant.
A Christian who strives to be at peace with himself and God will be a source of peace to his brethren.
Self-seeking ambition within the church—seeking to play ‘spiritual king of the mountain—such ambition often leads people to run from one person in the church to another to gain influence in an attempt to promote their own agenda. And of course, such behavior often results in spreading rumors and tearing others down in an attempt at self promotion.
Self-appointed confronters, people who see it as their God-appointed role to go about straightening out everybody else. Some people seem to think they have the ‘gift of criticism.’ Most often such people have hidden agendas behind their actions. It’s not really love at all, but a way to promote their ideas or opinions, or to prove they are right on some point. People bashers, as we might call them, are often restless and nervous. They fail to seek and find their significance in the Lord, and so, to meet their needs to control or dominate, they run about tending to everyone else’s business, interfere in other’s lives, and create havoc in the body of Christ.
2 Thessalonians 3:10-13 ~ 10For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either. 11For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. 12Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread. 13But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good.
undisciplined life
such persons… as for you
The reason for inclusion here is for love!
The emphasis is not on manual labor, but upon working as opposed to idling.
Two Motivations or Reasons (vs. 12)
Testimony to the Outside World, “Live” is peripatew, They cannot see our hearts nor the justifying work of God imputing the righteousness of Christ to our account.
Work is not a curse. Work is a blessing and a gift.
As the creator and sustainer of the universe, God is a worker - Jesus had two paying jobs, likewise Peter and John as well as Paul.
Work is not the product of sin. God gave Adam and Eve things to do in the Garden before the fall.
The story of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), as opposed to the story of the ten virgins. God helps those who can’t help themselves.
Respect = Polite
Story of man at Primos show.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 ~ 13But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. 14For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 15For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 18Therefore comfort one another with these words.
Pyramid slide:
Comfort one another with these words... Do not grieve
14 God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
a. God supernaturally through Jesus (bring with is future “will lead together with Him”)
b. Christians who have died
15 we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
coming = parousi>a - not is intense = ouj mh<
16 the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
shout = ke>leusma = Verbal command in battle
archangel voice = fwnh> ajrca>ggelov = voice of chief messenger
trumpet of God = sa>lpigx qeou~=
17Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.
caught up together = ajrpa>zw = snatch, take by force
clouds… in the air = nefelh>… ajh>r
always be with the Lord.
John 6:35, 39&40, 66 ~ 35Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst… 39“This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. 40“For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” 66As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.
John 11:25Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”
12:48“He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day.
Paul says “we” and not simply “those,” clearly, Paul included himself among those who could be alive when the Lord returns.
His Return Is Imminent - If something else must occur first, then that event is not imminent.
When will this be? We simply do not know. Paul obviously did not know either, nor did Jesus.
Paul, like Miss Jane, looked and hoped for the return of the Lord in his day, but he was not afraid of death.
The word “coming” is the Greek noun parousia - the presence of a dignitary like a king.
In verse 17, the word “caught up” (harpazo), was used of a thief who comes in secret and grabs what he wants while people are asleep. Likewise, the Lord’s coming for the church is secret and takes place while the world is spiritually asleep and indifferent to God.
One is silent and unseen by the world, and the other is just the opposite. In one He comes for His bride, and in the other, He comes with His bride.
When the church returns with Christ in Revelation 19:8, she is already clothed in “fine linen, bright and clean.
But in His second coming as described in Matthew 24 and Revelation 19, He comes to earth when every eye will see Him with the judgment of the earth to follow.
The juxtaposition and natural chronology of chapters 4 and 5, the rapture occurs before the day of wrath.
A threefold description of one great signal from heaven i.e., “with a shout of command in an archangel-like voice, even with the voice like the trumpet of God Himself.”
Furthermore, “shout” is keleusma, a military noun which occurs only here in the New Testament. Platoon Attention!
Many believe this refers to the Lord’s voice mentioned in John 5:24, 28, and is the same as the last trump of 1 Corinthians 15:52. It was at the voice of Jesus that Lazarus came forth from the grave in John 11.
Psalm 47:5 “God has ascended with a shout, The Lord, with the sound of a trumpet.”
The commanding shout of the Savior, calling His people from the grave and gathering them together.
Matthew 24:44“For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.