A study on 1 and 2 Thessalonians CHRISTIAN CHURCH SPREADING AND - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

A study on 1 and 2 Thessalonians

How an extraordinary event shapes

• ur ordinary lives

CHRISTIAN CHURCH

SPREADING AND HONORING THE GOSPEL

2 THESSALONIANS 3.1-18

• Is not My word like fire, declares the

LORD, and like a hammer that smashes a rock?” Jeremiah 23.29

• For the word of God is living and
• active. Sharper than any double-

edged sword... Hebrews 4.12

• How sweet are Your words to my

taste, sweeter than honey in my

• mouth. Psalm 119.103
• Your word is a lamp to my feet and a

light to my path. Psalm 119.105

• The word of the Lord may run swiftly

and be glorified. 2 Thessalonians 3.1

The spreading and honoring

• f the Gospel

requires prayer

Finally, brothers and sisters, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you, and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; for not all have

• faith. 2 Thessalonians 3.1-2

He sends out His command to the earth; His word runs very swiftly.

Psalm 147.15

The tremendous significance of prayer in God's victorious purposes. Through prayer the word of the Lord

• vercomes obstacles and reaches a

glorious victory. The word of the Lord is pictured as an athlete running in a race to attain the prize of glory. An athlete is glorified when he wins and is recognized and acclaimed as superior to all the others in the race. So the word of the Lord is running in the

• world. It will one day win the race of

words—the race of philosophies and theories and worldviews. It will be recognized and acclaimed as superior to all other words and philosophies— IF we pray!

The spreading and honoring

• f the Gospel

requires prayer Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word

• f God. And pray in the

Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and

• requests. With this in mind,

be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s

• people. Pray also for

me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. Ephesians 6.17-20

When the Devil sees the Word running and contending alone on the battle-field, then he shudders and shakes for fear.

Martin Luther

The spreading and honoring

• f the Gospel

requires dependency But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, both that you do and will do the things we command you. Now may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ. 2 Thessalonians 3.3-5

The spreading and honoring

• f the Gospel

requires

• bedience

But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us. For you yourselves know how you

• ught to follow us, for we were

not disorderly among you; nor did we eat anyone’s bread free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, not because we do not have authority, but to make

• urselves an example of how you

should follow us.

The spreading and honoring

• f the Gospel

requires

• bedience

For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies. Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread.

Discipline in the church

• The need for discipline does not arise from some trivial
• ffence which can be dealt with discreetly in private,

but from a public, deliberate and persistent disobedience to plain apostolic instruction.

• The nature of the discipline which Paul demanded was

a measure of social ostracism. The idlers had already received a general admonition (1 Thess.5:14). But now, because they had disregarded it, the loyal church members were to keep aloof from them (6). Then, if anyone continued in disobedience, they were to ‘take special note of him’, which implies ‘some form of public censure’, and not to ‘associate with him’ (14).

Discipline in the church

• The responsibility for administering discipline to a

persistent offender belongs to the congregation.

• The spirit in which discipline is to be administered must

be friendly, not hostile. It is to be done ‘gently’ (Gal.6:1). ‘Do not regard him as an enemy’ (15a). Instead, ‘warn him as a brother’ (15b).

• The purpose of this discipline is constructive. It is not to

destroy them. It is rather to make them ‘feel ashamed’ (14b) for the past and amendment for the future. Jesus had made this plain by saying that if an offender listens to reproof, ‘you have won your brother over’ (Mt.18:15).

The spreading and honoring

• f the Gospel

requires

• bedience
• But as for you, brethren, do

not grow weary in doing

• good. And if anyone does

not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet do not count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother. 2 Thessalonians 3.6-15

Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every

• way. The Lord be with

you all. The salutation of Paul with my own hand, which is a sign in every epistle; so I write. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. 2 Thessalonians 3.16-18

The spreading and honoring

• f the Gospel

requires spiritual awareness

One cannot read the last three verses of this letter without earnestly desiring for contemporary churches what Paul desired for the Thessalonian church, namely the peace, the presence and the grace

• f the Lord. Is it possible? Only, if

we share Paul’s perspective on the priority of the Word in the life of the church. How do the people of God and the Word of God relate to

• ne another? Can we say from the

heart ‘Let the Word of the Lord run and be honoured throughout the world’ and ‘Let the Word of the Lord be honoured and obeyed in the church’?

She had been shot through the breast, blinded in one eye, and had a leg hanging only by a tendon. Cher Ami became the hero of the 77th Infantry Division. (October 3, 1918)

Cher Ami The carrier pigeon