“Excel Still More in Love and Holiness (1 Thessalonians)”

Monday, March 23, 2020

First, let me say that it was so good to see each of you worshiping yesterday. We had so many people tuned in to our various live streams singing, praying, and thinking together with one another.  The form may have changed, but God was still praised, we were mutually edified and encouraged, and the truth of the gospel was proclaimed. I was encouraged by all who made it a priority to tune in and be part of what we were doing. I was especially encouraged by our Bible class last night. We had great attendance and participation. Let us continue to consider how to stir one another up to love and good works. Especially during this time in which we are absent in body, let us all the more draw near in spirit.

Applying Sunday’s Sermon:

That serves as a good segue into what we discussed Sunday morning. Paul, though torn away in person, was present in spirit as he endeavored eagerly to be able to come to the Thessalonians again so that he could supply what was lacking in their faith (1 Thess. 2:17; 3:10). In lieu of being able to be there with them, Paul did the next best thing he knew to do, send a letter. A letter in the ancient world was the way to communicate one’s presence and passion even when separated by long distances. In Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians, he reminds them of his deep love for them and encourages them to continue to follow his example. He writes primarily to encourage them to build on their foundation of faith, hope, and love and to continue to excel still more in the arenas of holiness and love. Paul describes this as a cooperative effort, God is working to cause the abound in love and holiness (1 Thess. 3:10-13; 5:23) even as the Thessalonians press on toward the same goal (1 Thess. 4:1-3; 10).  I want us to consider how this goal might be achieved, particularly in reference to excelling in holiness. This, of course, does not happen haphazardly. Holiness takes work. I think about the song we sometimes sing, Take Time to Be Holy. The title itself suggests that holiness is a pursuit for which preparation and persistence are important.

Paul is convinced that God will sanctify so thoroughly that every part of our being will be made holy in the end (1 Thess. 5:23). That in mind, let us think what this process looks like on several levels of our being - the head, the heart, and the hands.

Head - this has to do with our perspective. How we think influences how we live. Here are four ideas for us to bring perspective into focus:

• Live in light of the day of the Lord because it is coming. It seems that part of Paul’s strategy for holiness is to remind them that there will be a day when the Lord comes back and judges his enemies (1 Thess. 1:10, 2:19; 4:6; 5:1-3). Knowing that judgment is coming should cause us to think twice when it comes to our holiness. The positive side of this, of course, is that we who are prepared will obtain salvation on that day (1 Thess. 5:4-10). This also should shape our thinking and thus our actions.
• Live like God is in the room with you because He is. We are to be holy in the present because a holy God is present with us. This is what Paul says in 1 Thess. 4:7-8. How different would our decisions be if we ran them through this filter first?
• Live like it effects more than just you because it does. In the context, Paul is talking specifically about how failing in the arena of sexual purity affects one's brothers and sisters (1 Thess. 4:2-6). But we ought to see this application in other arenas as well. None of us live in a vacuum, our actions have an effect on others, even when we think they are private and personal. My commitment to holiness, or lack thereof, will have a great effect on my spouse, my children, my friends, and my brothers and sisters in Christ. Let us dwell on that in every decision that we make, every step we take.
• Live like Satan is waiting because he is! Paul was deeply aware that there was someone powerful out there who could not wait to derail the Thessalonian's commitment to holiness (1 Thess. 3:5). The moment we lose sight of this fact is the moment that Satan will pounce.

Heart - Closely related to the head, this has to do with our motivations and inclinations. This is our ‘why’. Without this, we have no reason for anything.

• Our primary motivation for living holy is that we want to please God more than anything else (1 Thess. 4:1). This motivation is grounded in grace toward us. God destined us for salvation by giving His son to die for us, therefore in all that we do we live for Him (1 Thess. 5:9-10). Let us constantly reflect on God’s graciousness and reorient our hearts to desire to please Him more than anything else.

Hands - this has to do with our actions. These are the tangible steps we take. Here are four from 1 Thessalonians:

• Because Paul recognizes that God plays an essential role in our continued sanctification, he prays to that end on behalf of the Thessalonians (1 Thess. 3:11-13). Is our own personal holiness a regular part of our supplications to God? Do we ask Him to help us with our weaknesses, struggles, temptations, etc. each day? Whatever mountains stand between us and holiness, let us pray to our God and Father that He helps us up them.
• God’s word is powerful and active. It had the power to separate light from dark in the beginning and it has that same power to do that in me. Paul recognized that one of the ways that God works to bring us to holiness, is through His life-transforming word (1 Thess. 2:13; cf. 1:8-9). What attention am I giving to the word of God? Is it something I am reading and digesting each day? Do I have a daily bible reading plan or some way of coming in contact with its power? Looking for a new way to interact with the word? Check out this “new audio Bible app that keeps Scripture in your ears and on your heart”. During the COVID-19 Pandemic, they have graciously given our congregation free access to it for the next 58 days (Shout out to Joe for letting me know about it). Follow this link to sign up https://dwellapp.io/signup/with/CM9UKn
• Remarkably, Paul describes Timothy as God’s coworker in the gospel in order to establish and exhort the Thessalonians in their faith (1 Thess. 3:2). Part of how God brings us to holiness is by putting others in our lives to sharpen and strengthen, to encourage and exhort. Indeed Paul urges all of the brethren to engage in this work of pushing (sometimes pulling!!!) each other toward holiness (1 Thess. 5:14). Let us develop deep relationships with one another, let us share our struggles, let us lean on our brethren who have faced the same battles for holiness that we are now facing, and let us follow their direction. It does us no good to put on a face and act as if we have it all together when we don’t. God in His wisdom established the church family so that we might excel still more together! Find a trusted friend, a spiritual mentor, someone you trust and look up to. Confide in them. Lean on them. Learn from them. Grow together.
• Paul says to “abstain from every form of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:22). Part of the reason we fail in being holy as God is holy is that we like to flirt with evil. We, like young Simba in the Elephant's graveyard, laugh in the face of danger only for the hyenas to gather round about us soon afterward (Lion King reference). Then we wonder why or how we got there. Let us stop giving the devil ground, making provisions for the flesh, and making holiness an afterthought and thus an impossibility. 

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