1 THESSALONIANS 4:13 - 5:11
SERMON - 7:00PM
Let's Pray; Our Gracious Heavenly Father, thank You that You are a God of Your Word, and for giving us Your great Word. Thank You that Your Word is always true, always trustworthy, always the great guide. Help me to speak clearly, to speak Your Word clearly, and for all of us to understand Your good and perfect Word more clearly.
In Jesus' name Amen
Moore College puts on a Mission Week every year, where the College is emptied of both students and staff – and everyone is sent to churches around Australia to help those churches. I was in a group sent to Haberfield, where they had only just re-opened a church that had been boarded-up for a decade. St Oswald's is a turn-of-last-century church – high-roofed, hewn-stone,stained-glassed, with that smell that old churches all used to have. I noticed one of the stained-glass windows; it had some lovely artwork in it, but it also had an inscription carefully cut into it below; “In Memory Of Our Church Warden, Who Fell Asleep...” They did things pretty tough on their poor wardens back then...
Fell asleep. I think it's one of the most beautiful, most expressive ways of describing our passing. If we fall asleep, we have the expectation of waking up to a fresh, new day. Right at its roots, the use of the phrase fall asleep is loaded with hope. It's the active acknowledgement that death is not the end for us.
But it's an expression that also has the capacity to puzzle or confuse, and it didn't sit easily with people at first. If we cast our minds back to Lazarus' death, we can see that the expression puzzled those around Jesus. John chapter 11; “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to wake him up.” His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” So then He told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, and for your sakes I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” Jesus had to explain the phrase fallen asleep to them.
Paul faced a different misunderstanding as he wrote to the Thessalonian church. They knew that Jesus had power over death, because he had returned from the dead. And they believed that Jesus would return for them. But they thought that 1) He was coming back any hour now, and that 2) he would return before any of the believers had died.
This seems to have led to a couple of problems. Some of them, in the belief that Christ's coming was absolutely imminent, had given up work and all their other earthly responsibilities so that they would be prepared. More seriously, they were becoming distressed that some believers had died before the promised coming of Christ the Messiah. They had two huge questions... What happened to them? Where was Jesus now?
What does happen? Where is Jesus now? It's one of the most natural questions to ask in the middle of tragedy and grief. It's a question we ask ourselves, for reassurance and comfort. It's a question that Paul is happy to answer – and the way Paul answers it is beautiful, full of the truth and grace of God, and full of the comfort that the Spirit brings. And he writes specifically to bring comfort and encouragement. Twice he says to encourage each other with these words. There are other versions of the Bible that translate this phrase as comfort one another with these words; both translations are accurate. The word Paul chooses is one of the most beautiful in the Greek language – parakalew, parakeleo. We still use it to describe the Holy Spirit as a comforter, the Paraclete. Encourage and give comfort to each other with these words. And so we should.
Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who have fallen asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men who have no hope. Paul doesn't say that it's wrong of us to grieve. There is nothing wrong with grief at all. Grieving the loss of loved ones is incredibly painful. In Genesis we learn that a man will leave his mother and father, and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. Anything that parts either union here – between husband and wife, between parents and children – is and always will be incredibly painful. The Lord God, whose own Son was executed by men, knows the pain of loss. To mourn is right and natural. Paul wants to bring comfort, though, and he does. We don't need to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.
And it's true – our grief as Christians is very different. We know that our loves are not lost forever – though the parting is painful, we will meet together in the love of the Lord. And even in the midst of our great pain, here is great, great comfort. Encouraging comfort – parakalew comfort. We have been given the Great Hope.
Paul goes on to give further encouragement and comfort. He wants his readers to know with absolute certainty and assurance that those who have died will not be forgotten by the Lord, will not be left behind – they are still very much in the Lord's mind. We believe that Jesus died and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him. The way Paul uses this expression fallen asleep in Him is so beautiful – it reminds me of my own kids, totally secure and trusting in Fiona and I enough to put their cheeks on our arms and... fall asleep. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of our Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep... the dead in Christ shall rise first! Those who have gone before us are not only remembered, they are spoken of as being just as alive as Paul is himself. After 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! In the air! Free from the earth, free from the world... truly on the wings of eagles, and with the Lord, uncorrupted and incorruptible forever! Oh, boy. Comfort each other with these words? You bet. Encourage each other with these words? You bet.
For here is our great hope, our beautiful and glorious hope. Here is why our Lord Jesus Christ died – why He was condemned by the leaders of His own people, coldly and brutally executed by foreign soldiers at a foreigner's order. Here is why Jesus came in the body of a man, suffered all of the things that man could suffer... so He could take our place, take our sins, take the justice that should by rights fall on us, take our punishment... so that when the Lord himself comes down from Heaven, those who have died in Christ will - will! rise first, and we who remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Sinless, blameless, with our Lord and each other forever.
Here is our great hope. And it's probably a good point to clarify what we mean by hope. But... but... as I was reading and writing this, I had a sneaking suspicion that somewhere along the line something had happened to hope. I checked quite a few dictionaries over this one, and I was right – something has happened to hope, or at least to what we understand by the word.
The formal definition is straightforward – the old trustworthy Oxford Dictionary defines hope as expectation and desire combined. The almost-as-good Macquarie Dictionary notes that it is expectation of something desired; desire accompanied by expectation. But both dictionaries also noted that these days we don't use that word with rock-solid certainty as much as we used to. Words like probability and more or less confidence appear a little further down as they examine the ways in which we use the word these days. And, sad to day, that's true enough. These days, if we say that we hope for something, there's almost a hidden implication that what we hope for... might not happen. I hope the train comes on time... I hope that the weather will be fine for the wedding... I hope the sermon won't take too long... We have a nagging, nasty sense that what we hope for might not come to pass. And so even in our language now, we as a society slip from a hopeful people to a hopeless people. It tarnishes the way people read the word hope in the Bible.
Thank God that we can understand that we can trust fully and unconditionally. That we can trust Him with our life. That we can hope, knowing with absolute assurance – not more-or-less confidence, but absolute assurance – that this is true. What was that brilliant old hymn? My hope is built on nothing less / than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame / but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ, the solid rock, I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. Our hope is secure. Our hope is assured. Our hope rests in the Word of the Lord, and His Word will never, never fail.
Therefore, encourage each other with these words.
Paul moves on, and it seems as though he's covering familiar ground with the Thessalonians. Now, brothers, about the times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. It's an assumption, but a fairly sensible one, that Paul had taught them about the coming of the Lord, and what Jesus had said concerning His return. He seems to be reinforcing this teaching – that nobody, not even Christ himself knows when God the Father will send him. Matt 24:36 –
Nobody knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in Heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Matthew's record continues in v.42 – But understand this: if the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and not let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. Paul reinforces Jesus' teaching once again – while people are saying peace and safety, destruction will come on them suddenly.
Paul knows that there's no point in speculating when the Day of the Lord will come. And we know that to be true. Even in our own lifetimes there have been people who have made great noises announcing that they have discovered the date of the Coming of Christ. The year 1000 brought all kinds of speculation. The year 2000 brought all kinds of speculation. There are still those Russians holed up in a cave waiting for a very certain date. And speculation about end-times and tribulation and Daniel / Revelation prophecies have caused no end of anxiety for many, many Christians. But they all fundamentally ignore Paul's very, very important message throughout these times and events – Encourage and comfort each other with these words...parakalew each other. We don't need to scare each other silly, or to have anxiety within ourselves.
I know that some people look at how Paul describes this meeting in the air, where those asleep in Christ rise first, those who remain come after and we meet the Lord and each other in the clouds. And that might be literally how it will happen. I know that some look to the prophecies in Daniel and the Revelation, and they interpret them in various ways, and in what order things will happen, and what signs will occur before... and they might be right, too. I'm not going to go into the whole landscape of end-times, parousia, and rapture – and neither does Paul, because Paul's purpose in discussing death, the dead in Christ and His return is to give comfort, to give assurance, that Christ has the power over death – and that through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. How important are the details and the mechanics of how it will all occur? What does Paul say?
Well, this is where Paul shifts focus. Actually, he really re-focuses attention to what he has been saying to the Thesalonians. He broke the focus to look specifically at their concerns about death, and now he brings it back to living for the Lord.
Verse 5 – You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or the darkness. We are different. We are different. There is no mistaking the differences between night and day. We have everything to live for, every good and perfect thing to look forward to. So we cannot be like others, who are asleep, who do their things in darkness. Paul motivates and encourages the Thessalonians, telling them why they must live godly lives. He doesn't chastise them, he encourages them, so that they will be encouraged. Remember at the start of 1 Thessalonians – Paul told them that the Lord's message rang out throughout the area as they became models of Christian living.
Paul spurs them on and on, urges them on and on. It's what Stu said last week, Paul the Frenchman. He's like a French Tour de France spectator, madly urging on the cyclists, even if they're in the lead. They are different from the rest of men who have no hope.
What a terrible, terrifying expression – the rest of men who have no hope. I talked a few moments ago about the way the word hope is beginning to lose that sense of iron-clad faith. I guess using a phrase like “I hope the train comes on time” demonstrates the point a little bit – there's a lack of certainty there, and (if we're talking about trains, anyway) that lack of certainty is based upon a past disappointment, a past expectation unmet, or a past breaking of faith. But it's worse than that, and the thought of a world without hope surrounds us every day. We can hear it when we talk to so many people. No trust in justice, no belief in lasting love, no surety in marital fidelity... it's like there's the background expectation that anything that hope can be put in will fail. And that's crushingly sad.
There's a British musical group who released an album last year. During the couple of months it took to make the record, a member of the group had a baby. Partly in response to this, they asked people at random what their great hope for their children was. Here's some of their answers...
I Hope... you understand what fear is before you have to feel it.
I hope my neuroses don't rub off on you.
I hope you always have enough to eat.
I hope you're never bullied, and I hope you never bully others.
I hope you find love. I hope rejection doesn't stop you loving.
I hope you don't blame yourself for things that aren't your fault.
I hope you'll visit me when I'm old.
The most heartbreaking thing I found in this song was that the band saw these as being the best things that we can wish for our children. The best hope they would wish for them was that their own ghosts would not follow the next generation. What a terrible thing to be without hope.
How great is our God who, by His grace and the blood of His own Son, has lifted us from this crushing darkness – this night of the soul – and made us sons of the Light. Paul says it loudly and clearly – For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath, but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.
The great theme that resonates through the letter is that Christ will come. The Thessalonians needed the words of Paul to encourage them in their waiting. Paul's encouragement is good for us, too, as we wait for the day of the Lord. But Paul injects something else into this letter, and as we wrap up our look at 1 Thessalonians, I want us all to grasp this firmly. Paul doesn't leave this as a standing instruction book. Paul doesn't want this church to hear his words and merely go-and-do. Twice in our passage here he leaves a living, breathing instrucion. 4 verse 18: Therefore encourage one another with these words. 5 verse 11: Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. It's not just a case of reading Paul's words, or listening to them, or even patiently listening to a sermon on them. Therefore encourage and comfort – parakaleo – each other. Take these great words of comfort, courage and assurance, and use them!
Especially, use them when our families grieve. Especially, use them when our brothers and sisters in Christ grieve. Have it in our minds when we talk to our neighbors who may be men without hope. These great and powerful words that Paul was given by God for the Thessalonians still resonate with the power of the Living God. But most importantly, we all need to re-discover HOPE, we all need to remember that hope placed in the Lord our God, His Spirit the Comforter, and His Son Jesus is secure hope! Trust in His hope -
For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath, but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.
He who has called you is faithful – AND HE WILL DO IT! Amen.
Let's Pray; Our Gracious Heavenly Father, thank You that You are a God of Your Word, and for giving us Your great Word. Thank You that Your Word is always true, always trustworthy, always the great guide. Help me to speak clearly, to speak Your Word clearly, and for all of us to understand Your good and perfect Word more clearly.
In Jesus' name Amen
Moore College puts on a Mission Week every year, where the College is emptied of both students and staff – and everyone is sent to churches around Australia to help those churches. I was in a group sent to Haberfield, where they had only just re-opened a church that had been boarded-up for a decade. St Oswald's is a turn-of-last-century church – high-roofed, hewn-stone,stained-glassed, with that smell that old churches all used to have. I noticed one of the stained-glass windows; it had some lovely artwork in it, but it also had an inscription carefully cut into it below; “In Memory Of Our Church Warden, Who Fell Asleep...” They did things pretty tough on their poor wardens back then...
Fell asleep. I think it's one of the most beautiful, most expressive ways of describing our passing. If we fall asleep, we have the expectation of waking up to a fresh, new day. Right at its roots, the use of the phrase fall asleep is loaded with hope. It's the active acknowledgement that death is not the end for us.
But it's an expression that also has the capacity to puzzle or confuse, and it didn't sit easily with people at first. If we cast our minds back to Lazarus' death, we can see that the expression puzzled those around Jesus. John chapter 11; “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to wake him up.” His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” So then He told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, and for your sakes I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” Jesus had to explain the phrase fallen asleep to them.
Paul faced a different misunderstanding as he wrote to the Thessalonian church. They knew that Jesus had power over death, because he had returned from the dead. And they believed that Jesus would return for them. But they thought that 1) He was coming back any hour now, and that 2) he would return before any of the believers had died.
This seems to have led to a couple of problems. Some of them, in the belief that Christ's coming was absolutely imminent, had given up work and all their other earthly responsibilities so that they would be prepared. More seriously, they were becoming distressed that some believers had died before the promised coming of Christ the Messiah. They had two huge questions... What happened to them? Where was Jesus now?
What does happen? Where is Jesus now? It's one of the most natural questions to ask in the middle of tragedy and grief. It's a question we ask ourselves, for reassurance and comfort. It's a question that Paul is happy to answer – and the way Paul answers it is beautiful, full of the truth and grace of God, and full of the comfort that the Spirit brings. And he writes specifically to bring comfort and encouragement. Twice he says to encourage each other with these words. There are other versions of the Bible that translate this phrase as comfort one another with these words; both translations are accurate. The word Paul chooses is one of the most beautiful in the Greek language – parakalew, parakeleo. We still use it to describe the Holy Spirit as a comforter, the Paraclete. Encourage and give comfort to each other with these words. And so we should.
Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who have fallen asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men who have no hope. Paul doesn't say that it's wrong of us to grieve. There is nothing wrong with grief at all. Grieving the loss of loved ones is incredibly painful. In Genesis we learn that a man will leave his mother and father, and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. Anything that parts either union here – between husband and wife, between parents and children – is and always will be incredibly painful. The Lord God, whose own Son was executed by men, knows the pain of loss. To mourn is right and natural. Paul wants to bring comfort, though, and he does. We don't need to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.
And it's true – our grief as Christians is very different. We know that our loves are not lost forever – though the parting is painful, we will meet together in the love of the Lord. And even in the midst of our great pain, here is great, great comfort. Encouraging comfort – parakalew comfort. We have been given the Great Hope.
Paul goes on to give further encouragement and comfort. He wants his readers to know with absolute certainty and assurance that those who have died will not be forgotten by the Lord, will not be left behind – they are still very much in the Lord's mind. We believe that Jesus died and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him. The way Paul uses this expression fallen asleep in Him is so beautiful – it reminds me of my own kids, totally secure and trusting in Fiona and I enough to put their cheeks on our arms and... fall asleep. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of our Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep... the dead in Christ shall rise first! Those who have gone before us are not only remembered, they are spoken of as being just as alive as Paul is himself. After 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! In the air! Free from the earth, free from the world... truly on the wings of eagles, and with the Lord, uncorrupted and incorruptible forever! Oh, boy. Comfort each other with these words? You bet. Encourage each other with these words? You bet.
For here is our great hope, our beautiful and glorious hope. Here is why our Lord Jesus Christ died – why He was condemned by the leaders of His own people, coldly and brutally executed by foreign soldiers at a foreigner's order. Here is why Jesus came in the body of a man, suffered all of the things that man could suffer... so He could take our place, take our sins, take the justice that should by rights fall on us, take our punishment... so that when the Lord himself comes down from Heaven, those who have died in Christ will - will! rise first, and we who remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Sinless, blameless, with our Lord and each other forever.
Here is our great hope. And it's probably a good point to clarify what we mean by hope. But... but... as I was reading and writing this, I had a sneaking suspicion that somewhere along the line something had happened to hope. I checked quite a few dictionaries over this one, and I was right – something has happened to hope, or at least to what we understand by the word.
The formal definition is straightforward – the old trustworthy Oxford Dictionary defines hope as expectation and desire combined. The almost-as-good Macquarie Dictionary notes that it is expectation of something desired; desire accompanied by expectation. But both dictionaries also noted that these days we don't use that word with rock-solid certainty as much as we used to. Words like probability and more or less confidence appear a little further down as they examine the ways in which we use the word these days. And, sad to day, that's true enough. These days, if we say that we hope for something, there's almost a hidden implication that what we hope for... might not happen. I hope the train comes on time... I hope that the weather will be fine for the wedding... I hope the sermon won't take too long... We have a nagging, nasty sense that what we hope for might not come to pass. And so even in our language now, we as a society slip from a hopeful people to a hopeless people. It tarnishes the way people read the word hope in the Bible.
Thank God that we can understand that we can trust fully and unconditionally. That we can trust Him with our life. That we can hope, knowing with absolute assurance – not more-or-less confidence, but absolute assurance – that this is true. What was that brilliant old hymn? My hope is built on nothing less / than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame / but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ, the solid rock, I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. Our hope is secure. Our hope is assured. Our hope rests in the Word of the Lord, and His Word will never, never fail.
Therefore, encourage each other with these words.
Paul moves on, and it seems as though he's covering familiar ground with the Thessalonians. Now, brothers, about the times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. It's an assumption, but a fairly sensible one, that Paul had taught them about the coming of the Lord, and what Jesus had said concerning His return. He seems to be reinforcing this teaching – that nobody, not even Christ himself knows when God the Father will send him. Matt 24:36 –
Nobody knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in Heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Matthew's record continues in v.42 – But understand this: if the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and not let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. Paul reinforces Jesus' teaching once again – while people are saying peace and safety, destruction will come on them suddenly.
Paul knows that there's no point in speculating when the Day of the Lord will come. And we know that to be true. Even in our own lifetimes there have been people who have made great noises announcing that they have discovered the date of the Coming of Christ. The year 1000 brought all kinds of speculation. The year 2000 brought all kinds of speculation. There are still those Russians holed up in a cave waiting for a very certain date. And speculation about end-times and tribulation and Daniel / Revelation prophecies have caused no end of anxiety for many, many Christians. But they all fundamentally ignore Paul's very, very important message throughout these times and events – Encourage and comfort each other with these words...parakalew each other. We don't need to scare each other silly, or to have anxiety within ourselves.
I know that some people look at how Paul describes this meeting in the air, where those asleep in Christ rise first, those who remain come after and we meet the Lord and each other in the clouds. And that might be literally how it will happen. I know that some look to the prophecies in Daniel and the Revelation, and they interpret them in various ways, and in what order things will happen, and what signs will occur before... and they might be right, too. I'm not going to go into the whole landscape of end-times, parousia, and rapture – and neither does Paul, because Paul's purpose in discussing death, the dead in Christ and His return is to give comfort, to give assurance, that Christ has the power over death – and that through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. How important are the details and the mechanics of how it will all occur? What does Paul say?
Well, this is where Paul shifts focus. Actually, he really re-focuses attention to what he has been saying to the Thesalonians. He broke the focus to look specifically at their concerns about death, and now he brings it back to living for the Lord.
Verse 5 – You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or the darkness. We are different. We are different. There is no mistaking the differences between night and day. We have everything to live for, every good and perfect thing to look forward to. So we cannot be like others, who are asleep, who do their things in darkness. Paul motivates and encourages the Thessalonians, telling them why they must live godly lives. He doesn't chastise them, he encourages them, so that they will be encouraged. Remember at the start of 1 Thessalonians – Paul told them that the Lord's message rang out throughout the area as they became models of Christian living.
Paul spurs them on and on, urges them on and on. It's what Stu said last week, Paul the Frenchman. He's like a French Tour de France spectator, madly urging on the cyclists, even if they're in the lead. They are different from the rest of men who have no hope.
What a terrible, terrifying expression – the rest of men who have no hope. I talked a few moments ago about the way the word hope is beginning to lose that sense of iron-clad faith. I guess using a phrase like “I hope the train comes on time” demonstrates the point a little bit – there's a lack of certainty there, and (if we're talking about trains, anyway) that lack of certainty is based upon a past disappointment, a past expectation unmet, or a past breaking of faith. But it's worse than that, and the thought of a world without hope surrounds us every day. We can hear it when we talk to so many people. No trust in justice, no belief in lasting love, no surety in marital fidelity... it's like there's the background expectation that anything that hope can be put in will fail. And that's crushingly sad.
There's a British musical group who released an album last year. During the couple of months it took to make the record, a member of the group had a baby. Partly in response to this, they asked people at random what their great hope for their children was. Here's some of their answers...
I Hope... you understand what fear is before you have to feel it.
I hope my neuroses don't rub off on you.
I hope you always have enough to eat.
I hope you're never bullied, and I hope you never bully others.
I hope you find love. I hope rejection doesn't stop you loving.
I hope you don't blame yourself for things that aren't your fault.
I hope you'll visit me when I'm old.
The most heartbreaking thing I found in this song was that the band saw these as being the best things that we can wish for our children. The best hope they would wish for them was that their own ghosts would not follow the next generation. What a terrible thing to be without hope.
How great is our God who, by His grace and the blood of His own Son, has lifted us from this crushing darkness – this night of the soul – and made us sons of the Light. Paul says it loudly and clearly – For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath, but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.
The great theme that resonates through the letter is that Christ will come. The Thessalonians needed the words of Paul to encourage them in their waiting. Paul's encouragement is good for us, too, as we wait for the day of the Lord. But Paul injects something else into this letter, and as we wrap up our look at 1 Thessalonians, I want us all to grasp this firmly. Paul doesn't leave this as a standing instruction book. Paul doesn't want this church to hear his words and merely go-and-do. Twice in our passage here he leaves a living, breathing instrucion. 4 verse 18: Therefore encourage one another with these words. 5 verse 11: Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. It's not just a case of reading Paul's words, or listening to them, or even patiently listening to a sermon on them. Therefore encourage and comfort – parakaleo – each other. Take these great words of comfort, courage and assurance, and use them!
Especially, use them when our families grieve. Especially, use them when our brothers and sisters in Christ grieve. Have it in our minds when we talk to our neighbors who may be men without hope. These great and powerful words that Paul was given by God for the Thessalonians still resonate with the power of the Living God. But most importantly, we all need to re-discover HOPE, we all need to remember that hope placed in the Lord our God, His Spirit the Comforter, and His Son Jesus is secure hope! Trust in His hope -
For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath, but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.
He who has called you is faithful – AND HE WILL DO IT! Amen.
Photo available from Stock.xchng, a site of stock photography (www.sxc.hu) Photographer is EIRincon, photo ID is 717386
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