2 Thessalonians
Dear Friends in Christ,
In the fifth chapter of John Jesus makes a truly astounding
statement: “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent
me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death
to life.”
This is the blessing of the Gospel message. Jesus says that for those who know Him a remarkable, magnificent, life-altering shift has taken place. The transition is this: Those who trust in Him have made a cross-over from spiritual and eternal death to spiritual and eternal life.
This is the reality of the Gospel. We have crossed over from death to life. Though we still carry around a sinful nature which manifests itself in many troubling ways, we are nevertheless viewed by God through the cleansing filter of Jesus Christ. The work of Jesus Christ applied to our lives cleans us up. The righteousness of Christ covers our sin just like this white robe is covering me from what I’m wearing underneath it. So effectively are we cleaned up that it changes our status in the eyes of God from “sinner” to “saint.”
This is objective truth and not dependent upon our feelings
about the subject. We may not always
think of ourselves as saints and we certainly don’t always act in the way the
word “saint” is commonly understood in today’s terms, but that is what we
are. We
are saints.
Not only are we saints, we are part of the totality of all the saints who have lived before us and all who will live after us. That’s what we mean in our creeds when we confess that we believe in the “communion of saints.” We are a part of the gathered saints of God, and one day we will go to heaven and join that vast band of believers who are already there. We refer to those in heaven as “Saints Triumphant.” For them – and 18 of them came from this congregation this last year – the struggles of life are over.
Today we remember with thanksgiving that many of our loved ones are safely home. At the same time, we’re also reminded that we’re not there yet. Until we join “Saints Triumphant” in heaven we exist on earth as “Saints Militant” – meaning we still labor and contend and fight with temptations and the sins of the world as well as our own weakness and sinful nature.
It is in our position as “Saints-Triumphant-in-Waiting” that the Apostle Paul addresses us today. What he provides in this text we might entitle:
PRACTICAL COUNSEL FOR SAINTS MILITANT
What he tells us can be boiled down from three paragraphs into these three short imperatives, which will also serve as the outline for our thoughts:
1. Be strong
2. Be encouraged
3. Be productive
13 But we
ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the
beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit
and through belief in the truth. 14
He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the
glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So
then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you,
whether by word of mouth or by letter.
Let’s set the context. Paul is writing to Christians who were beginning to feel the pain of persecution as well as the inroads of false teaching. In previous verses he states sadly but as a matter of fact that many will be deluded and led astray by false teaching.
In contrast to them, he expresses thankfulness for the faithfulness of the Thessalonian Christians. Why is Paul thankful for them? Because of who and what they are. Listen to how he describes these Christians. Since this description is true for all Christians, let’s make it personal…
He says first of all we are “loved by the Lord.” Think
about that. That’s a pretty nice place
to be. Being loved by others is a wonderful
blessing. But being loved by the
Lord? In the words of the credit card
commercial: priceless. We are nothing less than God’s beloved.
Then Paul goes on to remind us of that deep but comforting
doctrine of “election,” assuring Christians that “from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying
work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.” In other words (think again of those whom
originally received this letter), things may be happening in our lives and all
kinds of personal and theological storms may be swirling around us and life may
be difficult, but before any of this happened – in fact before the world
existed – God had us in His mind. Then,
in the course of time, He sent the Holy Spirit into our lives. And the Holy Spirit did His “sanctifying (or saving) work” through the “Gospel” to bring us to “belief
in the truth.”
And because we know the truth of who Jesus Christ is and
what He has done for us through His life, death and resurrection, we will one
day “share in the glory of our Lord
Jesus Christ” as Saints Triumphant.
There are some head-spinning thoughts here. Put it all together, apply it personally, and this is what we come up with: We’re part of plan that ultimately ends in glory. Which means everything else that happens in life – regardless of how we perceive things – falls under the umbrella of Romans 8:28.
Or to put it another way:
In a world that throws us curves from time to time; a world that gives
us daily evidence that we’re not in heaven yet; a sinful world populated by
sinful people who can disappoint and hurt us; a world that defines worth by
what we have and what we do… In such a
world Paul reminds us to find our comfort in our identity as saints; as those who are loved and chosen by God.
But Paul knows that Christians on earth are Saints Militant. We struggle with lots of issues. Paul also knows that Christians don’t live in caves. What infects others can infect believers as well. What troubles others can also trouble believers. Our glorious calling notwithstanding, we need to remain vigilant. So at the end of this first paragraph he exhorts the Thessalonian Christians and us to “stand firm and hold on to the teachings” that have been passed on.
So the first piece of counsel Paul gives to us as Saints Militant is to be strong, meaning, be spiritually strong. Stay close to God who will provide such strength throughout the ins and outs of life. And in order to stay close to God we must stay close to His Word.
Secondly, Paul reminds us to be encouraged. 16 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, 17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.
Two things to note. First, the very fact that Paul talks about the subject of encouragement in the life of the believer presupposes that the opposite is also true. Believers can become discouraged. Sometimes we fall prey to the fallacy that if we have a strong enough faith we will never find ourselves down. Well, Moses got discouraged. So did Elijah, just to name a couple of big-time believers. It comes with the struggles of being Saints Militant rather than Saints Triumphant.
Secondly, note that Paul links any and all encouragement we have for this life and the life to come with God’s grace. Grace is the free, unmerited, unexpected love of God, and all the benefits, delights, and comforts which flow from it.
The pinnacle of God’s grace to us, of course, is summed up in two words: Jesus Christ. Paul put it this way in his second letter to the Corinthians: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” Our richness and our treasure and our source of present and eternal encouragement is found exclusively in the forgiveness of our sins. And the forgiveness of our sins is tied exclusively to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ – whom we, by God’s grace, know to be our Savior.
And the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is not just a pie-in-the-sky kind of deal that only kicks in at death. It fortifies us now. It is an ongoing reality in our lives. God’s grace permeates every second of every minute of every hour of our existence. Each day for us as Christians is a new day of God’s amazing grace. Each day we live with the promise of God that not a single hair of our head falls to the ground without His permission.
And that grace “encourages our hearts and strengthens us.” That grace allows us to stave off and ultimately defeat the times of discouragement that inevitably creep into our lives as Saints Militant. That grace allows us to weather the storms and live as Saints Triumphant. Be encouraged, Paul tells us. And we have certainly have reason to.
Paul concludes his counsel to us with this: Finally, brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you. 2 And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith. 3 But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. 4 We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we command. 5 May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.
There are a number of thoughts here, but at the heart of what Paul is saying is a request. He’s asking his fellow Christians do all we can so that “the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored.” Paul is talking about the propagation of the Gospel, or, as we generally refer to it, mission work. What Paul is telling us as Saints Militant, then, is to be productive in terms of Gospel outreach. He’s asking us to use our time and talents and treasures wisely for the things that matter most. And what matters most is that more and more people hear what we hear and know what we know.
“God’s Word is our great heritage, and shall be ours forever. To spread its light from age to age shall be our chief endeavor.” Paul is asking nothing more than what we as sons and daughters of the Reformation gratefully proclaim in those well-known words.
Next week is our Annual Commitment Sunday. Knowing that everything we do here at
To contribute and be productive in such a way is not our burden, it is our joy. It is not our grudging obligation; it is the willing responsibility of those who know where the story of their lives ends. As Saints Triumphant.
So on this Saints Triumphant let us rejoice in those who have gone before us. Let us gratefully reflect upon who we are and the fact that we will someday be counted among that glorious band. But until we make that final transition and cross over from this life to the next, let us, as Saints Militant, be strong… be encouraged… be productive. Amen.