1 Thessalonians 5:1-28

Paul continues to exhort his readers, including us, to live in a way that brings glory to God and contributes to the growth of the body of Christ.  These are the practical things that we should be doing as long as the Lord gives us breath.
PREPARE FOR THE COMING OF CHRIST: We do not know when Christ will come nor do we know when our lives will come to an end.  These events are known only to God, but we are expected to live in light of them.  Death and the coming of Christ will result in judgment such as the world has never known.  Every man will stand before the Lord and must give an account of his life on this earth.  Those who trusted in themselves, rejected God and followed the false teachings of men will experience eternal condemnation and will pass into an eternity without hope.  Those who have trusted Christ will still give an account of their service for the Lord, but their eternal standing before God will be in the righteousness of Christ.  These are sobering thoughts that should motivate us to live lives of obedience and faith as we anticipate Christ’s return.  We must faithfully warn those who do not know of this coming judgment that they can be saved through Christ from this coming judgment.  We do not know when it will happen and those who might claim that they do are deceiving themselves and others.  However, we do know that He is coming and we must prepare ourselves and other for the reality of that day.
PARTNER WITH THE MESSENGERS OF CHRIST: God has always been faithful to raise up messengers who faithfully proclaim that which He has chosen to reveal.  These messengers warn the world of the wrath to come.  These messengers remind believers of the truths of God’s Word and they call us to live for God’s glory.  We are all called to partner with these messengers by helping to provide for their needs as well as by joining them in their efforts to proclaim the message of Christ to the nations of the world.  Not everyone has the gifts of orally communicating the truths of God’s Word in public, but all of us have a part to play in this all important task.  In light of the coming judgment, it is vital that the Word of God be proclaimed to every man woman and child on the face of this world.  We, as the body of Christ, are responsible to cooperate with one another to accomplish this task.  It is only as we partner together as a body that the glorious message of Christ will be revealed in the nations.
PRACTICE THE WILL OF CHRIST: We often pray that the Lord will reveal His will to us.  The truth is that God has revealed His will to us in His Word.  I believe that instead of praying that God’s will be revealed to us that we should pray that God’s reveled will would be accomplished in us.  God has clearly told us to rejoice, pray and be thankful in every circumstance of life.  He has told us to submit to His Spirit, honor His Word, to reject that which is evil and cling to that which is honoring to Him.  He has told us to live in peace and purity, to depend upon and trust Him in every circumstance of life.  He has told us to pray for and love one another.  Our problem is not that we don’t know God’s will, our problem is that we fail to practice His will.  May God strengthen us, in light of Christ’s return, to faithful proclaim His Word and humbly practice His will.  

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