BE ENCOURAGED AND LIVE WORTHY OF GOD

PROCLAMATION

“For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into His kingdom and glory.”  1 Thessalonians 2:11-12 (NIV)

 

EXPLANATION

These words were written by the apostle Paul, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God, to the believers in the church at Thessalonica.  In this second chapter, Paul offers an account of his ministry among them and describes the nature and success of it. (1 Thessalonians 2:1-6)  He mentions how he treated them when he was with them. (1 Thessalonians 2:7-10)  He said that he encouraged them, comforted them, and urged them to live worthy of God.  Then he said that he thanked God that they received the gospel as The Word of God and that they also began to spread The Word. (1 Thessalonians 2:13-14)  He ended this chapter of his letter by stating that he wanted to visit them, but Satan had prevented that from happening. (1 Thessalonians 2:18)

 

APPLICATION

As believers we should cling closely to The Lord God.  We should seek comfort in, and be encouraged by, The Holy Word of God.  We should also be committed to live a life which would be pleasing to God.  We should treat one another and speak to one another with loving kindness.  We should build each other up and not tear each other down.  When we point out errors or shortcomings, we should do so in private with caring constructive corrections, and it should be done out of love for one another.  We should walk worthy and we should encourage others to also walk worthy. (Ephesians 4:1 and 1 Thessalonians 2:12)  We have the power to do so, we just need to exercise the commitment and do it. (John 1:12)  We should do it willingly, joyfully, carefully, and with loving kindness.

 

OUR BEFRIENDING THE PEOPLE OF GOD WILL ANGER SOME PEOPLE

PROCLAMATION

“Saul’s anger flared up at Jonathan and he said to him, ‘… Don’t I know that you have sided with the son of Jesse to your own shame and the shame of the mother who bore you?’”  1 Samuel 20:30 (NIV)

EXPLANATION

The Spirit of The Lord God had left King Saul and had been replaced by an evil spirit. (1 Samuel 16:14 and 18:12)  Saul had initially loved David and took him into his home, but the more that he saw that The Spirit of The Lord God was with David, the more he feared him and wanted to kill him. (1 Samuel 18:29, 19:1, and 19:15)  Saul even got very angry with his son Jonathan for befriending David.  Saul was so angry that he threw a spear at Jonathan, attempting to kill him, when he questioned why Saul wanted to kill David. (1 Samuel 20:32-33)

APPLICATION

There are some people in this world who do not like The Lord God or the people of God.  They will even dislike or hate you for being friends with or being kind to believers.  It is good for us to be kind and good to the people of God.  The Bible records that Rahab, the prostitute, was spared along with her family because of how she treated God’s people. (Joshua 6:17)  People will be blessed for being nice to a man of God or just giving a child of God a drink of water. (Matthew 10:41-42)  The world will know that we are believers by the way that we show love to one another. (John 13:35)  We should not let anger or hatred rule our behavior.

THE HIGHER STANDARD OF CHRISTIAN LOVE

Proclamation:

“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be the children of your Father in heaven…” Matthew 5:44-45 (NIV)

Explanation:

These are the words of Jesus, The Christ, which He spoke to His disciples and to the surrounding crowd during His Sermon on The Mount.  His point was that the children of God must be better than the children of the world.  The unsaved worldly people love those who love them so there is nothing special about doing that. (Matthew 5:46)  The children of God should take love to a higher level and also love those who do not love them. (Matthew 5:48)

Application:

Sometimes being a Christian is not easy to do.  It is easy to love the people that love us.  However, as Christians, we are challenged to love those people that do not love us.  We are to love, bless, do good to and pray for the people that we would normally hate, curse, want to get even with, and want bad things to happen to.  God's way for us to treat people is not the way we would normally behave.  We are not to treat people badly because they treated us that way. (Romans 12:17)  We are to overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21)  By treating our haters with love we are, in fact, heaping burning coals upon their heads. (Romans 12:20)  Vengeance belongs to The Lord God and He will repay our enemies. (Romans 12:19)  Maybe this is what is meant by "killing them with kindness".  We are to apply the "golden rule" to all people.  We are to do unto others as we would have them to do unto us. (Matthew 7:12)  We are to treat people like we would like to be treated, not as they treat us.  Again I say, sometimes being a Christian is not easy, but it's well worth it.  As Christians, we should live and love by a higher standard.

THE GOLDEN RULE

Proclamation:

“Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Luke 6:31 (NIV)  The King James version of The Bible for this verse reads, "And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise."

Explanation:

These are the words of Jesus, The Christ, during His Sermon on The Mount as recorded by Luke, the physician and frequent traveling companion of the Apostle Paul.  Jesus was addressing His disciples and the surrounding crowd.  Near the end of His discourse, He presents this phrase which sums up the essence of His Sermon, the Law of Moses (The Torah), and the teachings of the prophets.  This should be the rule of behavior for all mankind.

Application:
This is "the golden rule", do unto others as you would have them to do unto you.  Treat people as you would like to be treated.  Many people can recite "the golden rule", even if they do not always practice it.   However, rarely, if ever, do the people that say it, tell you that it is a paraphrased quotation which is taken from The Bible.  According to Bible scholar John Mac Arthur, the negatively stated version of this rule existed before the birth of Christ, in the rabbinic writings, in Hinduism, and in Buddhism.  The negative command was "what is hateful to yourself, do not to someone else."  Jesus stated this as a positive command, enriched its meaning.   This is a rule which all believers should live by.  It applies to how we should treat everyone and not just how we ought to treat other believers.

I LOVE YOU AND GOD BLESS YOU

To all of my family and friends, colleagues and co-workers and classmates, associates and acquaintances, preachers and teachers, I just wanted you to know that I love you, each and every one of you, and I pray that The Good Lord will bless you today and continue to bless you.

Today is a special day, and every day is a special day because The Lord God made each one of them.  I will rejoice and be glad in it and I pray that you will also.  While we celebrate and appreciate this glorious Lord’s Day let us say a kind word to someone and encourage them.  Today is a good day for us to do random acts of kindness and demonstrate the love of God.  Let’s not wait until their “Homegoing Celebration” to say something good about someone.  Let the people in your life know that you love them, tell them and show them, while they can appreciate it.

I love you and may God bless you.

Rev Wendell

LIVE BY THE GOLDEN RULE

Proclamation:

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 7:12 (NIV)

Explanation:

These are the words of Jesus, The Christ, which He spoke to His disciples and to the crowd near the end of His Sermon on The Mountain as recorded by the Apostle Matthew.  These words are also recorded in the gospel according to Luke, the physician and traveling companion of the Apostle Paul. (Luke 6:31)  According to noted Bible scholar John MacArthur, the negatively stated version of the golden rule existed before Christ in the rabbinic writings, in Hinduism, and in Buddhism.  They stated it as a negative command which was "what is hateful to yourself, do not to someone else."  Jesus stated this as a positive command, enriched its meaning, and underscored that this one imperative aptly summarizes the whole gist of ethical principles contained in the Law and the Prophets.  The Law refers to the Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament, and the Prophets refers to the remaining books of the Old Testament which were written by the prophets.

Application:

This is "the golden rule": do unto others as you would have them to do unto you. Stated another way it is: “Treat people as you would like to be treated.”  Many people can recite "the golden rule", even if they do not always practice it.  However, rarely, if ever, do the people that say it, tell you that it is a paraphrased Bible verse quotation.  According to The Bible we are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. (Matthew 22:39 and Mark 12:31)  We are to treat others as we would like to be treated.  This is contrary to the worldly way of thinking which is to treat others as they treat you.  Christian behavior is beyond and a step or two above worldly behavior.  So, let us live by this higher Biblical standard.