1 Thessalonians 4
Living to Please God
1Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. 2For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.
3It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4that each of you should learn to control his own body[a] in a way that is holy and honorable, 5not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; 6and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. 7For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 8Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.
9Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. 10And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more.
11Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, 12so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.
The Coming of the Lord
13Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18Therefore encourage each other with these words.
Footnotes:
[a] 1 Thessalonians 4:4 Or learn to live with his own wife; or learn to acquire a wife
4 comments:
1 Thes 4
This stuff is always sorta scary and exciting all at the same time to me.
v 15(NLT)...We who are still living when the Lord returns will not rise to meet him ahead of those who are in their graves. 16For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the call of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, all the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. 17Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and remain with him forever. 18So comfort and encourage each other with these words.
I love the imagery that comes to mind when we read about the trumpet and being caught up in the clouds to join our heavenly Father. What an amazing time whether you are coming from the grave or are still alive.
Father, we should continuously strive live a life that pleases you. May each of these men hear the words well done good and faithful servant! Father we lift up jws and his son. We know that your will can change anyone and if it be your will Father, change jrs' heart. BE with all of us as we continue to grow and learn more and more how to lean on You.
In Christ,
cas
1 Thes 4
Agreed. I think that the awesome times to come will have me freaked in a good way- a deer in headlights. While I read and believe that we will all be in comfort and constant unending worship in the end times, I have to admit that the conceptualization of that is beyond the brain God has given this pile of dust.
11Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, 12so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.
I love this passage. Since I was young, I always wanted to lead by example, in sports, school, etc. In any group function, I usually meandered to the lead, but I was never a Rah-Rah kind of guy, it was always easier to lead by example, and let others emulate. I've never been able to truly articulate this as well as Paul has, but this has been my goal (sometimes unsuccesfully-to be honest) at grad school.
Father, please help us in these times to feel your presence, and give us the words to say to help those in need find you. Help us to pray constantly through the Holy Spirit, and grant us peace and contentment in You, and with the strength to overcome our trials and perservere the misfortunes of this world. We ask these things in the name of Your Son, who died that we may meet you one day.
Amen
crb
Couple thoughts...
1) it is amazing how unselfish Paul was...To truly care about others the way he did. we live in a what's in it for me society and i definitely get caught up in that world consumed with my own personal matters. It takes time and energy to pray, think about others. it is something i need to improve. and is humbling to think about Paul living in such a way. truly 100% concerned for others.
1) as for the rising from the graves...neat and comforting...but here is a question...is this our body and/or spirit rising? i kind of tought that our spirit would pass on to heaven immediately. it's odd and a little unnerving to think that we may have to wait tens, hundred, thousands of years to meet up with God. so is this just talking about our bodies and not spirit???
I love the reality that the Christian life is not an arrival, but a destination, a journey, an adventure. Paul lays out a vision of the Christian life which is pressing in to know God more and more. How satisfied am I with mediocrity in the arenas of love and self-disicipline?
I agree with crb, that vs. 11 and the following verses, are a great reminder about our lives. We live in an age that celebrates the loud and obnoxious. We love the provocative and flashy. Yet here is a reminder to pursue a "quiet life."
As far as vs. 13-18, I am reminded of our hope beyond the here and now. My undertanding, timmcd6, is that our bodies will remain behind until this time. Our souls will go to be with God until this reunion.
Lord, thanks for this day and Your call for us to press on more and more in knowing you and loving others. Forgive our short-sided lives. Help us to keep the end in mind as we live today. In Christ's name,
er
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