Hallelujah, saints! Today we begin the Life-Study of 2 Thessalonians.
Message one is titled: “A Word of Encouragement”
The verses covered are 2 Thes. 1:1-12 and the sections of the message are:
I. ENCOURAGEMENT AND CORRECTION
II. FAITH, LOVE, AND HOPE
III. SUFFERING FOR THE KINGDOM
IV. THE GOAL OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
V. GOD’S JUDGMENT
VI. RESTING AT THE UNVEILING OF THE LORD
VII. DEALING OUT VENGEANCE
VIII. ETERNAL DESTRUCTION
IX. CHRIST GLORIFIED IN THE SAINTS
X. WORTHY OF THE CALLING
XI. THE NAME OF THE LORD GLORIFIED IN US
I was exposed on the matter of being Accounted Worthy of His calling.
In 1:5 Paul speaks of being “accounted worthy of the kingdom of God.” This implies that some believers may not be accounted worthy of the kingdom. In order to be accounted worthy of the kingdom, we need our faith to grow, our love to increase, and our endurance to be maintained.
Lord have mercy on us that we would see this word and be accounted worthy.
“We have emphasized the fact that the basic structure of the genuine Christian life is constituted of faith, love, and hope. Such a life does not originate from the ability of the believers’ natural being; it originates from the infusion of what God is into the believers.” I was just relieved and encouraged, that I cannot do this out of myself, but just by getting more of God infused into me!
Sometimes even we may find it hard to believe that the glorious Christ is within us right now. Doctrinally, we may believe that Christ is in us. However, we may have some doubts. In the past I wondered if I really had Christ in me. I said to myself, “Is Christ really in you as the hope of glory? Look at how poor you are. It seems that you were better years ago than you are today.” Perhaps you also have doubted that Christ is in you. BUT the day will come when the Christ in you, the hidden Christ, will be made manifest. That manifestation will actually be the glorification of Christ in us. When He comes out from within us, He will be marveled at by all the unbelievers.
“The cross produces the church, and the church ushers in the kingdom.
The Lord is here today; however, He is veiled. His coming back will be His unveiling. Although the universe is immeasurably vast in its dimensions, with the Lord there is no such thing as distance. He is everywhere. One day, at His coming, He will be unveiled, and everyone will see Him.
We have Christ in us, and we are in the process of being filled with Christ. But our Christ is veiled, even to us. When the Christ of glory comes out from within us and is manifested, others will marvel at us. As we enjoy this grace, it will cause the Lord Jesus to be glorified in us and us to be glorified in Him.” 🙂
Amen.
We thank the Lord that we are not shortsighted. Through His grace, we have both insight and foresight. We are able to see through the veil. Unbelievers, however, do not know what is behind the veil. But we, the believers, know that the Lord Jesus will be unveiled.
At the unveiling of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of His power, we shall rest. The time has not yet come for us to rest. Our rest will be at the Lord’s coming, at His unveiling.
Paul first encouraged the saints in Thessalonica and then he corrected them in love. He was such a pattern of first encouraging and then correcting – even concerning the sufferings that we need to go through in order to enter into God’s kingdom.
We need to know that even though we cannot see Christ, He is in us and He is daily growing in us until one day, at His coming, He will come out of us to be glorified in His saints! Today He is hidden and concealed in us, but when He returns He will come out of us and He will be marveled at in all His saints! Lord, increase the glory in us day by day!
Many believers are confused and misunderstand what is the goal of the Christian life. Our goal is not to go to Heaven! This is a very poor concept. Our goal is the kingdom of God!
“Because Romans 14 speaks concerning the church life, the kingdom of God in this verse signifies the church life. According to Paul’s understanding, the church life is the kingdom. Of course, the church life today is not the kingdom in full. Rather, it is the kingdom in a developmental stage, a preliminary stage. We are in this preliminary stage of the kingdom with the kingdom in full as our goal. We are proceeding from the preliminary stage to the stage of fullness. This is the correct understanding of the proper goal of the church life.”
TODAY we are in the kingdom!! Of course this is not the full kingdom, but when the Lord returns we will be in the full stage of the kingdom and also be those expressing the glory of the Lord!
Saints! What an encouragement! We have this rich deposit of faith and love. It must grow and increase!
Though I am a very good reader, I prefer not to. But praise the Lord that the Life Studys can be used in readers such as Galaxy tablet and I can listen in the morning, while I drive to work and in the evening. One can highlight the portions enjoyed and then share with others. A great way to redeem the time
Hallelujah! The kingdom is the goal of the Christian life! I really enjoyed that we are living in the church life with the goal that one day we will enter into the kingdom of God. O Lord, grant us much grace and mercy each day to pass through the sufferings and afflictions that we may be accounted worthy of the kingdom. “For the church life we need to have a life composed of the basic structure that includes a growing faith, an increasing love, and a lasting endurance. If we have such a life, we shall be accounted worthy of the kingdom.”
The Goal of the Christian life is the kingdom! The New Testament emphasizes God’s goal. With an unveiled face we may see “God’s goal is that we would live a church life that would usher us into the kingdom!” We have the highest commission which requires the highest standard of living. Such a living consists of growing in faith, increasing in love, and maintaining endurance. Today, “we are proceeding from the preliminary stage (the church) to the stage of fullness (the kingdom).” This is a glorious life!
When Christ comes back, He will come from the heavens with glory and be glorified in His saints. Colossians 1:27 emphatically presents the subjective Christ. Paul clearly says “Christ in you the hope of glory.” He is dwelling in us. We may understand this doctrinally, but do we really know this glorious Christ is within us. The day will come when He will be manifested in His saints. The universe will marvel at the revelation of the sons of God because Christ will be glorified from within us. His manifestation is too marvelous! Praise be to the only wise God through Jesus Christ! To Him be the glory, forever and ever! Amen.
I appreciated seeing that the goal of the Christian life is not to go to heaven, but to get into the kingdom. Also, I appreciated that the church is the kingdom today! Although the church today may not express the coming kingdom in its fullness, if we want to enter into the kingdom, we must be in the church because the church today is a precursor to what the kingdom will be in the future.