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Thessalonians Imitators of Us
Week 39 Day 1
Reading: 1 Thessalonians 1:2-7 “You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia." ESV
Thought: The Christians in Thessalonica had become imitators of Paul, Silas and Timothy who were in turn imitators of Jesus Christ. They received the Word of God through persecution but with great joy and by doing so became an example to other Christians. The Greek word used here for “example” is tupos which means a model forged by repetition; (figuratively) the correct paradigm, based on reliable precedent for others to then follow, (i.e. the right example, a proper pattern). It can also mean a stamp or scar; by analogy, a shape. The attitude of the Thessalonian Christians – the way they acted and reacted, was a right example or proper pattern for others to follow. In Macedonia - Thessalonica was an important city and of course their influence would be felt on the whole of the surrounding region. This is a striking instance of the effect which a church in a city may have on the country. The influence of a city church may be felt, and will usually be felt afar on the other churches of a community - just as, in all other respects, a city has an important influence on the country at large. Are we in Elim Chelmsford setting an example for others to follow. Is our church impacting and influencing our town, our county and even our country? Do we want it to? Are we prepared to become the right example in faith and truth and action?
Prayer: Lord, help me to be an example for others to follow in my actions and in my attitude. May I be an imitator of you in the world in which I live. Amen.
Examine then Receive
Day 2
Reading: 1 Thessalonians 2:11-13 "For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers." ESV
Thought: How do you receive the word? The primary audience was Jewish, some probably trained in the Scriptures and when they received the word of God as delivered by Paul they received it as such. Receiving the word of God does not mean to blindly accept it, but to examine and place faith in it after the examination has been completed. The Bereans, who Paul visited immediately after the Thessalonians, did just this; "they received the word with
all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so" (Act17:11). Being Jews they had access to examine the claims of Jesus as the Christ, they received the word of God but carefully and regularly examining this to be true, their eagerness was in itself their demonstration of faith. If when we receive an interpretation of Scripture do not examine it thoroughly and check that it matches up with the whole of Scripture then we are very likely and very quickly to fall out of touch with God and will end up in doctrines and theologies which only please man and glorify man. Whole denominations have been established on one man’s interpretation of Scripture. Examine carefully everything taught to you and ensure it fits into the whole of Scripture.
Prayer: Lord, help me receive the truth and apply it to my life. If I have held on to error help me lay aside my pride and receive the truth in its place. Give me discernment and understanding through the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Caught Up With Christ
Day 3
Reading: 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17; 5:2; 4 "For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord." "For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night." "But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief." ESV
Thought: The occasion and purpose of the entire letter comes to a head in Chapter four. Paul wants to make sure they are not ignorant of something. The central issue in these key verses of the first book written in the New Testament is the central theme of prophecy. It is the "harpazo" or "caught up", from which we get the term RAPTURE, from the Latin raptus, which is from "rapiemur" in 1 Thess 4:17. He spoke about those who are alive meaning those who are living at that time when Jesus will come again. The writers wrote as if they and the readers would be among those who would be alive then. Perhaps he hoped that it would be before he died. No one knows when it will be. But Jesus could come at any time. They taught the *believers to live as if Jesus would come soon and to be ready for him. The Lord will come himself. He will not send an agent or an angel to represent him. He will come down from heaven. He has been there since he went to be with God the Father. All the peoples of the world will see him as he returns to the earth (Revelation 1:7). He will come with a shout of command. As he leaves heaven, he will call for the dead to rise. Those who have died believing in Jesus will come from heaven with him. God will raise them from the dead. There will be the sound of an *archangel’s voice. This also is a signal for the dead to rise. The word archangel only comes here and in Jude verse 9. An archangel is an angel of a higher rank than the other angels are. In the tradition of the Jews there were seven of them. In Jude 9 the archangel Michael fought with the devil. With the Lord’s command and the voice of the archangel there will be the sound of a trumpet. People used trumpets in Old Testament times to announce that God was going to do something special. At this sound, all those who believe in Jesus will change. God will give them new bodies so that they can live with him and never die. This will all happen in less
time than it takes an eye to shut and open (1 Corinthians 15:52). Those who have died believing in Jesus will rise first.
Prayer: Lord, help me live as if you were returning today. Help me not waste an opportunity to share the gospel with someone today. Amen.
Hold Fast What is Good
Day 4
Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:11-22 "Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labour among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil." ESV
Thought: If ever a checklist of the correct way to live as a Christian in a world of sin was needed, this would be it. The language is authoritative and commanding, the word of God declared to us by His servant Paul. There is a reason why every single point here has to do with the relationships we share with people and especially with the other members of the body: because God has called us to love, this is important. If we do one thing, let it always be for the good of another person, not ourselves except to see that person built up and encouraged. Set these words of guidance upon your heart and let them invigorate the way you live, being actively transformed into the image of Christ.
Prayer: Lord, help me to live the way you want me to live. May I put you first in all things and reflect in my life your nature and your character. Amen.
Correcting the End
Day 5
Reading: 2 Thessalonians 1:4-9 "Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring. This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might," ESV
Thought: Thessalonians was written only a few months after 1st Thessalonians from Corinth also. It is a letter of correction! He corrects views on Persecution – Ch.1. He corrects views on Prophecy – Ch.2. He corrects views on Practice – Ch.3. Paul finds it necessary to write to the Thessalonians regarding the end times, this was so for two reasons: they interpreted what they were going through as a form of the Tribulation, it was indeed a tribulation but not the Tribulation since the lawless man has not yet come, and second to encourage them through their sufferings and get them to persevere more so in the cause of the Gospel.
Prayer: Lord, help me today to endure persecution and continue to live for the cause of the Gospel.
Never Tire of Good
Day 6
Reading: 2 Thessalonians 3:13 “And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good.” NIV
Thought: Do you ever get tired of always doing the right thing? You're always the one who is doing the practical things in church, even though it's someone else's responsibility. You're always the one who seems to turn up when volunteers are called for. You are always the one who ends up doing things because others don’t turn up when they are supposed to? You lead by example, do the right things, step up whenever there is a call, but you feel like you're all alone doing this. And then it starts eating away at you..."Why is it that no one else helps? Why am I the only one doing this? Everyone should put do their part so it can be fair..." And slowly but surely you get broken down from the person who wants to help, to the person who does it grudgingly. “Weary” means to be utterly spiritless, to be wearied out, exhausted. A weary person loses his or her motivation to accomplish God’s will. He or she quits and gives up. God’s will in this case is to never lose heart in serving the Lord.
Prayer: Lord, strengthen me, equip me and encourage me in all that I do. Help me today to resolve to do your will whatever it takes, whether others help me or not. I live to serve you Lord in all I do. Amen.
Day 7 Reading: 2 Thessalonians 2:15-17 “So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter. May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.” NIV
Thought: This reminds us of Ephesians 4:14 “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.” We need to stand firm. Anyone who has lived or worked in a skyscraper knows tall buildings sway in the wind. There’s no danger; the engineers know it will happen, but the sway is uncomfortable for people inside. When engineers and architects designed Citicorp Center in New York, they decided to do something about it. At the top of the fifty-nine story building, they installed a machine called a tuned mass damper. The machine, writes Joe Morgenstern in New Yorker magazine, “was essentially a four-hundred-and-ten-ton block of concrete, attached to huge springs and floating on a film of oil. When the building swayed, the block’s inertia worked to damp the movement and calm tenants’ queasy stomachs.” Jesus is the stabilizing factor in our lives. We may be buffeted and blown but if our foundations are secure we need not fear – just stand firm.
Prayer: Lord, thank you that I have received the truth and the truth has set me free. Help me to stand firm in the middle of the stress and pressure of life. Amen.