SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/1/2014 10:37 PM
My Worship Time Focus: Introduction to 1 Thess. Four
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 1
Thessalonians 4:1-2
Message
of the verses: As we begin the month
of June I have a decision to make, and that decision has to do with the
direction of study that I want to go to.
Chapter four of 1 Thessalonians is a very important chapter in Paul’s
first letter to the Thessalonians. He
begins the fourth chapter with these words “Finally then,” and this means that
his letter is as far as what he is saying is moving into the last subject he
wants to write to them. This will take
until the end of the letter. We will see
in chapter four two main themes with the first one being Paul exhorting the
Thessalonians to excel more and more and this has to do with their
sanctification. He then moves into what
is called the “Rapture” of the Church, explaining what this is all about. There are sub-points to these two main
points, but these are the two things he wants to drive home to this very young
church.
John MacArthur takes a whole chapter
in his book to explain the first two verses in this fourth chapter of 1
Thessalonians. Warren Wiersbe has only
two chapters in his commentary on 1 Thessalonians to explain this entire 4th
chapter.
We have talked about sanctification
in earlier SD’s and said that there were three parts to Sanctification. The first is that we are sanctified when we
first come to know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Next there is a process of sanctification
that we go through while here on planet earth.
Finally we will be completely sanctified when we get to heaven. Paul is writing about the second part of
sanctification in the first section of chapter four. As we grow in the Lord we are being
sanctified more and more, and what this is in a nutshell is living a holy life
before the Lord, becoming more and more like Christ. Now we know that we will never arrive while
in our bodies, but we are to strive as Peter writes at the end of his second
letter: “but grow in the grace and
knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now
and to the day of eternity. Amen.” Peter
must have know the great importance of growing up in the Lord for this is the
last thing that he states to his readers, and he will soon be joining the Lord
in heaven for he was martyred shortly after that letter he wrote.
As I was driving to church this
morning I was listening to John MacArthur’s message on these first two verses
on the fourth chapter of 1 Thessalonians, he mentions Jonathan Edwards, and
then when I was listing to our Pastor’s message, which was actually for the
high school graduates he also mentioned Jonathan Edwards. Edwards is credited with being the main
person that the Holy Spirit used to begin the “Great Awakening” which was the
first great revival in the United States.
Jonathan Edwards was saved at age seventeen and was truly a godly man, a
man who loved the Lord and loved to please the Lord every day. Warren Wiersbe writes the following on how to
please God: “How do we know what pleases God? How do we know what pleases an earthly
father? By listening to him and living
with him. As we read the Word, and as we
fellowship in worship and service, we get to know the heart of God; and this
opens us up to the will of God.
Now back to the dilemma that I have
as far as how much of the 4th chapter of 1 Thessalonians I want to
cover this month. I believe if I cover
this entire chapter that I will not be able to get back to Jeremiah, which is
the main book that I am studying at this time.
I see two possibilities here. The
first is that I just try and get through the first twelve verses of chapter
four, and the second is that I try to do two SD’s a day for a while, but I
probably will have to do that even if I only look at the first twelve
verses. This will be a matter of prayer.
6/1/2014
11:04 PM
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