SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/11/2014 10:46 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Paul’s
Greeting
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 1st
Thess. 1:1-2
Message of the
verses: I wanted to give the outline
on the book of First Thessalonians according to John MacArthur, which is the
commentary that I will be following along with help from Warren Wiersbe’s
commentary.
Outline
I.
Paul’s
Salutation (1:1)
II.
Paul’s Pastoral
Care (1:2-3:13)
A.
Describing his
thankfulness (1:2-10)
B.
Defending his
integrity (2:1-16)
C.
Defining his
concerns (2:17-3:16)
III.
Paul’s
Practical Instructions (4:1-5:22)
A.
Moral purity
(4:1-8)
B.
Disciplined
living (4:9-12)
C.
The Rapture
(4:13-18)
D.
The Day of the
Lord (5:12-15)
E.
Church
relationships (5:12-15)
F.
Basic Christian
living (5:16-22)
IV.
Paul’s
Benediction and Closing Admonition (5:23-28)
“1
Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace. 2 We give thanks to God always for all of
you, making mention of you in our prayers;”
As
we go through this first chapter of the letter to the Thessalonians we will be
focusing on the characteristics of the elect, and we will see ten of these as
we go through the first chapter. We can never actually see when the Holy Spirit
of God gives an effectual call to the unbeliever; however we can see the
results of that call. As we look at
these ten characteristics of the elect it will help us answer the questions
that sometimes come up in our lives as to whether or not we are a true believer
or perhaps help us answer questions to others who doubt their salvation.
We
mentioned in our first SD on First Thessalonians that Paul had suffered much
for the cause of Christ as he was beaten in Philippi before even going to
Thessalonica and if we read about his sufferings that he describes in 2
Corinthians we will see that he suffered much more for the furtherance of the
Gospel. “24 Five times I received from
the Jews thirty-nine lashes. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was
stoned; three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the
deep. 26 I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from
robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the
city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false
brethren; 27 I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights,
in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. 28 Apart from such external things,
there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches. Jesus told Ananias the following things that
would happen to Paul “"Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear
My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; 16 for I will
show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.’ (Acts 9:15b-16).”
As
we look at the first verse in chapter one we see that Paul does not say that he
is an apostle as he did in other letters that he wrote, and the reason that he
did not put this in there is because the believers there did not have a problem
with the fact that he was an apostle like seen in other churches he ministered
too, in fact the portion we read from 2 Corinthians about his suffering was to
show that he was an apostle of Jesus Christ.
The Thessaloian believers were a joy in the heart of Paul for he could
write to them as a church that was truly all believers unlike other churches
that he wrote to. When we look at the
seven churches that the Lord Jesus spoke of in Revelations 2-3 we can see that
not all of the people attending there were truly believers, but not so in
Thessalonica.
“1
Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.”
As
we look at this first verse we know who Paul is for he was the most influential
apostle of the early church. Silvanus is
also called Silas and he went with Paul on the second missionary journey. MacArthur writes of Silas “Silas, probably an
Hellenistic Jew, was a prominent member of the Jerusalem church who first
accompanied Paul on the apostle’s second missionary journey (Acts 15:40) and
later was a scribe for Peter (cf. 1 Peter 5:12).”
He
also writes the following about Timothy:
“Timothy was a native of Lystra (Acts 16:1-3), a city in Asia
Minor. He was Paul’s son in the faith and
protégé. He toured with Paul on the
second and third missionary journeys and remained near the apostle during
Paul’s first incarceration in Rome.
Later Timothy served the church at Ephesus (1 Tim. 1:3) and was himself
imprisoned (Heb. 13:23). At the end of
Paul’s life, when Timothy was in Ephesus, he wrote the two inspired letters to
him.”
It
is important that we know about the Greek meaning for the word “church” as it
shows us that Paul was speaking about those who were elect. MacArthur writes “Paul’s use of the Greek
word translated church (ekkesia) emphasizes the reality of the Thessalonians’
election. Ekkesia is related to the
phrase ek kaleo, ‘to call out,’ and means ‘the called out ones,’ or it can mean
‘the elect ones,’ especially when connected with the phase ‘His choice of you’
(v. 4), which is specific. Paul was
certain that the Thessalonians were among God’s elect because he had seen the
evidence of their transformation.”
We
next look at the phrase “in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul uses the phrase “in Christ” many times
in his writings showing that when a person is truly born again that he is now
in Christ and once in Christ there is no way to have you removed from Him. “John 10:29
"My Father,
who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch
them out of the Father’s hand.
There is something else we need to look at here and that is as MacArthur
writes “Modifying the phrase God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ with a
single preposition emphasizes the equality of essence between Father and
Son. It is worth noting here that Paul
used the Saviors’ full title, the Lord Jesus Christ. That combines in one phrase all the major
aspects of His redemptive work. Lord
describes Him as creator and sovereign ruler, the One who made us, bought us,
rules over us, and to whom we owe full allegiance. Jesus (“Jehovah saves”) refers to His
humanity; it was the name given Him at His birth (Matt. 1:21, 25). Christ (“the anointed one”) is the Greek term
for the Messiah, the one promised by God to fulfill His plan of
redemption.”
Next
we look at the last words of the verse “grace and peace.” One cannot have peace without grace for grace
is undeserved favor to the sinner in the form of complete forgiveness of sin
and the granting of eternal life. We
receive peace with God through His grace and we can also experience the peace
of God too. “6 Be anxious for nothing,
but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your
requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will
guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7).” “Ro 5:1
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ.”
We
see from verse two: “2 We give thanks to God always for all of you, making
mention of you in our prayers;” that all of the men who are mentioned in verse
one are praying for the people of Thessalonians and giving thanks to the Lord
for them for what He has and still is accomplishing in their lives.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I cannot
explain what it was that God called me to be a part of the salvation that He
offers through Jesus Christ, but I am thankful and have a great desire to serve
Him all of my days.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord to direct my path.
Memory verses for the
week: Philippians 2:5-8
5 Have this attitude in
yourself which was also in Christ Jesus 6, who, although He existed in the form
of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied
Himself, taking on the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness
of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a
man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death
on a cross.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Pluck it out, cast it from
thee.” (Matthew 5:29)
Today’s Bible
question: “Who said ‘This is now bone of
my bones, and flesh of my flesh: She shall be called woman?”
Answer in our next SD.
3/11/2014 11:55 AM
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