Purified and Holy
Perseverance • Sermon • Submitted
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Introduction
I have always wanted to be a cowboy. I love the cowboy way of problem solving and working things out often with the limited resources that may be available. When the situation gets tough, there has to be adjustments made. That physical and mental toughness is often expressed in the cowboy life and “Cowboy Up.” It means to make a determined effort to overcome an obstacle or deal with a difficult situation. There are many things we must do to make things happen. We need to “cowboy up.”
I think a time as come for us to develop a new phrase for us Christians in the times in which we live. We certainly need to “Christian up!”
Christian up means to make a determined effort to live a life at all times that pleases Christ and keeps us prepared for the Day of the Lord when He returns. So how do we “Christian Up?”
Paul in his letter to the Thessalonians gives us several practices that will help us “Christian Up” as we strive to live lives that are purified and holy. We are at 1 Thessalonians 5:6-11
6 So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. 9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
Alert Up (vs. 6-7)
Alert Up (vs. 6-7)
The first thing I see here for us to “Christian Up” is to alert up. We see the admonition of Paul to not be like the others who are asleep. What does that mean? Doe Paul mean that he wants to be tired all the time? Actually the meaning it so much more. Paul is showing is here that being asleep is that point in our lives when we yield to sin and are indifferent to the way of salvation. The metaphor of being asleep is that person that are apart from Christ and give in easily to temptation. Jesus spoke to His disciples with this idea.
40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. 41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
The idea of being asleep spiritually portrays that person that will give into those things that would draw us away from the desires of God. When we are tired spiritually and physically our minds become less focused and we start making mistakes. Paul takes great effort here to further associate being asleep with that behavior that is associated with the nighttime. One emphasis of the nighttime is that is when God is ignored and disobeyed. We see in verse 7 the analogy of those that sleep at night and those that get drunk at night. My parents were sticklers for me to have a set time to be home when I was a teenager. They wanted to make sure that I was doing anything stupid at nighttime. I used to hear that nothing good can come after midnight. Did you ever wonder where that came from? Well there are several biblical passages that indicate the night time as a time of moral stupidity, spiritual darkness, and drunkeness. One did not “tie one on” during the day time but typically at the night time.
11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning
to run after their drinks,
who stay up late at night
till they are inflamed with wine.
16 Woe to you, O land whose king was a servant
and whose princes feast in the morning.
15 These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning!
13 They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.
The opposite of being those who were asleep meant to be one that was alert. The words used here imply that we should be vigilant and live. Being alert means to stand firm.
13 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.
There is also an association in being alert with being watchful in prayer.
2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.
In conjunction with being alert, we see that we are called to be self-controlled. The word here is nepha which means to be sober. That makes sense in our discussion because that is the opposite of drunkeness. Paul was urging them to exercise moral self control and self restraint. The result of doing so meant that they would have clear thinking in the face of adversity and danger especially in the last days.
7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.
5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
Paul was emphasizing the Thessalonians that Christ had come into their hearts and minds and made them different from those that had not received Christ. The same is prevalent for us today. We are to be different in our actions. We are to belong to the day, not the night. To combat the darkness, Paul is telling us to armor up.
Armor Up (vs. 8)
Armor Up (vs. 8)
8 But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.
Did you know we have a choice in what to wear? When I help my grandson get ready for school, I made the choices for him at the beginning of the school year. Now, he makes the choices. One morning when it was in the teens, he came out with shorts, t-shirts and crocs. We had to have a discussion about wearing what was appropriate for the conditions of the day. Paul is doing that here. He is telling us what to wear as we armor up. We need the armor of the light.
12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
He tells us we need faith and love as a breastplate.
This is a direct quote of Isaiah 59:17
17 He put on righteousness as his breastplate,
and the helmet of salvation on his head;
he put on the garments of vengeance
and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.
The breastplate covers the thorax of the body on both sides from the neck to the middle. It protects the heart and vital organs necessary for life. Faith in our Lord and the practice of His love are the inmost part of our spiritual beings. Ephesians 6:14 calls it “the breastplate of righteousness.”
14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,
Next we see that there is a need for a helmet. I laugh these days because when I was younger, there were no such things as bicycle helmets and now we live in town that has that requirement as a town ordinance. I would never bike nowadays without a helmet on. I need to protect the piece of a brain that I have and not risk myself to any injury. Paul is emphasizing that we need to wear as a helmet the hope of salvation. The word for helmet is perikephaila which is the protection of the soul which consists in salvation. Hope is our belief and expectation of good. Coupled together, the hope of our salvation means that we do not have a vague expectation but the settled assurance of our future deliverance.
24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
We choose what we wear in putting on these respective pieces of armor. When we armor up, we are preparing ourselves for the battle. This battle is not one like a typical war, but one that prevails with love. It is the same love that God gives us, agape love. Agape love is that unconditional love that breaks down barriers and removes all obstacles. We alert up. We armor up. And we agape up.
Agape Up (vs. 9-11)
Agape Up (vs. 9-11)
9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
You and I are appointed by God to be His children and heirs of His salvation. This gives us a right to be part of the family of God. When we receive His salvation, we are able to hold firm and belong to the family of God.
39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.
Agape love helps us belong to the family of God through our Lord Jesus Christ. As a result, we should constantly be building up the family of God through encouragement.
The word comes from parakaleo. It means to exhort, console, strengthen, instruct or teach.
19 Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you? We have been speaking in the sight of God as those in Christ; and everything we do, dear friends, is for your strengthening.
We also build each other up through edification. We are to promote Christian wisdom through affection, grace and holiness. We should embolden each other in our walk with Christ. All this comes from loving Jesus and loving others.
8 For even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than pulling you down, I will not be ashamed of it.
No one likes to be pulled down. This world has a way of constantly doing that but we as Christians are to be building up the family of God.
In fact, we are to do this by simply being the family of God. We need to be people of action in this matter and make sure that each person individually is built up as well and the collective body.
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
Add It Up
Add It Up
If we are going to be people that are purified and holy, we need to Christian up by adding it all up. We need to alert up, we need to armor up, we need to agape up. There should be a significant change in what we were before Christ.
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
There should be a straight course in which we should take.
21 Folly delights a man who lacks judgment,
but a man of understanding keeps a straight course.
This significant change and straight course should give us a sold-out commitment.
17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.