Some years ago a prisoner
was studying a correspondence course, as he did so he came
under conviction of sin and was wonderfully saved. In a
later paper he was asked to express where he stood in relation
to his new found faith. His remark was perceptive indeed,
he wrote, "I am a new man in an old body." That
is exactly what we are, new people in old bodies! But you
know it goes even beyond that for one day we will be new
people in new bodies, and on that day we will face the final
test by the Lord of Glory himself. Thus the need for a Spiritual
M.O.T. from time to time, in time.
Secondly, what does
it mean to turn in your idols? By the way, what is an idol?
Well, an idol is anything I fear more than God, anything
I love more than God, anything I serve more than God and
anything I worship more than God. When we turn in those
idol’s God immediately gives us his Holy Spirit to
fill that void, that vacuum.
For example!
I will have the Spirit
of Truth, John 14v7. which means I should never be deceived!
I will have the Spirit of Faith, 2 Cor.4v13.which means
I should never be discouraged! I will have the Spirit of
Grace, Heb. 10v29. which means I should never be disgruntled!
I will have the Spirit of Holiness, Rom. 1v4. which means
I should never be defiled! I will have the Spirit of Wisdom,
Eph.1v17. which meansI should never be daunted! I will have
the Spirit of Power, 2 Tim. 1v7. which means I should never
be defeated! I will have the Spirit of Love, 2 Tim. 1v7.
which means I should never be discordant! I will have the
Spirit of a sound mind, 2 Tim. 1v7. which means I should
never be disturbed! I will have the Spirit of Life, Rom.
8v2which means I should never be dead and I will have the
Spirit of Glory, 1 Peter 4v14.which means I should never
be dull! (I draw the above from Dr.John Phillips)
The interesting thing
is, each of these wonderful characteristics is a characteristic
of the Lord Jesus Christ and is that not our worthy task
in these amazing days, to Glorify Him. Read carefully Kenneth
Wuest’s translation of v9 of our chapter.
"For they themselves
kept on reporting concerning you what kind of an entrance
we had as we came to you." Now that word reporting
is the word testifying which means they had been testifying
about these Thessalonians. Who had? Why these people from
Macedonia and Achaia. They had been giving testimony of
the Thessalonians and their new found faith. Interesting!
Here was a people whose testimony was being given for them
by the unsaved world around them, and believe me, it was
a good testimony.
"Have you heard
about these folks at Thessalonica? Can you imagine it, they
have turned to God, they have turned in their idol worship
and I tell you there really is a change in those folks.
It’s real! It’s real! No hypocritical lifestyle
with them, it’s personal, it’s pure, it’s
powerful." Anyone who lives like that and sounds such
a pure note for Jesus Christ and serves God in that wonderful
way deserves a listing.
Dr. Vance Havner says,
"The Church needs time out to tune up. We are so busy
building a bigger and better orchestra that we cannot stop
to tune our instruments" He continues in another context,
"The early Church did something because they believed
something. We are trying to do what they did without believing
what they believed." (end quote)
The second context
in which they carried out this evangelism is, look what
they have been saved to v9b. "to serve the living and
true God" Now, there stands out a wonderful duet here.
Notice in Christian service how service and Sovereignty
are always married. That simply means that any service I
render for God must be in the perfect will of the Sovereign
God and it must be in the power of the Sovereign God!
To serve the living
and true God is a very blessed privilege indeed, but how
can we best give that service. In Mark’s Gospel chapter
13v34 Jesus said, "to every man his work" reminding
us that in God’s work every member has a place to fill,
even the weaker ones. (1 Cor.12v22-23) So as there is service
for all, how best can we carry out that service to the Glory
of God. Here are wise words from the pen of the past.
If you plant for a
year, plant grain, if you plant for ten years, plant trees,
if you plant for one hundred years, plant men, if you plant
for Eternity, plant God’s Word.
An old professor of
biology used to hold a little brown seed in his hand, it
was barely visible to the eye of his students. He would
say, I know just exactly the composition of this seed. It
has nitrogen, hydrogen and carbon. I know the exact proportions.
I can make a seed that will look exactly like this one,
but if I plant my seed it will come to naught; its elements
will simply be absorbed in the soil. If on the other hand
I plant the seed God made, it will become a plant because
it contains the mysterious principle which we call the life
principle. And so it is with men and woman, John 12v24.
"Verily, verily,
I say unto you, except a grain of wheat fall into the ground
and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit." This is a practice that cannot change!
The corn of wheat is the word "kokkos" signifying
the seed corn of the wheat. And we know, don’t we,
that all gardening and farming are founded on that principle,
that a seed has to be sown in the ground, that its germ
of life can reproduce only when the seed is sown and dies.
A grain of corn can never fulfil the "law of its being"
apart from the process of death, burial, and reproduction
in resurrection.
Now the reason we Christians
are called seed is because we contain life. John 3v36.
"He who believes
in the Son of God has everlasting life; and he who does
not believethe Son shall not see life; but the wrath of
God abides on him" N.K.J.V.
And by the way, you
will discover in this world, wherever God plants true seed,
true believers, Satan comes and plants counterfeit. Satan
is not an originator; he is an imitator 2 Cor. 11v13. Christians
are like seed in that they are small but can be powerful,
but also like seed, its only when we are planted, buried
in Christ that the power is released, and this is the practice
that cannot be changed. It’s another way of saying,
if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself,
and take up his cross, and follow me! This is always to
be the context of any evangelism, there must be death to
self, sin and the world. Rom.13v14 "But put ye on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh,
to fulfil the lusts thereof."
This is also a paradox
that cannot be changed. John 12v25. "He that loveth
his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this
world shall keep it unto eternal life."
The paradox is that
death is the way to life! We must be so committed to the
Lord Jesus Christ we will off load everything else. Rom.
6v1-7v6.
An old Man to be put
to death! Ch.6v6. b. An old Monarch to defeat!
Ch.6v12-14.
An old Master to depose! Ch.6v16-18. d. An old Marriage
to dissolve!
Ch.7v1-6.
If burial is the way to light, then death is the way to
life, real life! I serve a risen Saviour, He’s in the
world today, I know that He is living whatever men may say.
John Ruskin, the English
author, said, "the highest reward for man’s toil
is not what he gets for it, but what he becomes by it."
This is what Paul, in 2 Tim. 1v6 called the stirring up
of the gift that is in thee. What have I become for God?
Again, this is a principle
that cannot be changed, John 12v26 "if any man serve
me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also
my servant be: if any man serve me him will my father honour."
C.H.Spurgeon said,
there are no crown wearers in Heaven who were not cross
bearers on earth! This is a principle that every dear Christian
must determine in their own hearts. What world am I living
for?
We can live for Jesus
and the world to come and be in receipt of our reward, or
we can live for this old world and be losers in the world
to come.
1 Cor. 3v15. "If
any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss;
but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire."
It’s very possible
to have a saved soul and yet have a lost life! Many have
been saved but have never served or served with a wrong
attitude and that means great loss.
As we conclude this
segment there are two texts worth thinking about John 14v21
and 2 Tim.4v7-8. Here we have a two fold honour for those
who will truly serve the Lord. On earth, Jesus will manifest
(make known) himself to us, in heaven He will manifest us
with a crown of honour! What are we saved to? To serve the
living and true God. You are either leaving your mark on
this world, or the world is leaving its mark on you.
The third context in
which they carried out this evangelism is, look what they
have been saved for, v9c. "to wait for His Son from
heaven", It is true, they are not long saved but one
thing marks them out as being truly the Lord’s, they
are living in the hope of a coming Lord and Saviour. You
see, wherever there is a true love for the dear Saviour
there will be a true looking for and longing to meet the
one who is everything to us. And that should be the major
hope of every dear believer. The hymn writer puts it like
this. With such a blessed hope in view, we would more holy
be; more like our risen glorious Lord, whose face we soon
shall see.
What is your hope?
On what does your hope rest? This world puts its hope in
banks, saving institutions, political leaders, military
power, the things of this world, but as Solomon discovered
these were all "vanity of vanities." That’s
why when people lose those things, they are like someone
going through a desert panting with thirst, who see a mirage
and instead of finding what will quench their thirst, they
find only dry and parching sand. If our hope is built on
anything but a coming Saviour, it is a wasted hope. I realise
much mystery surrounds or clouds our full understanding
of many of the features of our Lord’s return. But if
you think that is an excuse for ignorance, scepticism, or
apathy on this great subject of the Second Coming, then
you need to have another thought. Many times in the Bible
we are encouraged to discern the signs of the times in order
that we may be watchful and ready, to keep alert. Underscoring
the mystery of His return for the disciples, the Lord Jesus
reminded them many, many times, "The Son of man is
coming at an hour you do not expect." But the corollary
he continually and inevitably stressed was:
So you see, these are
issues we should study and gain a keen awareness of while
we seek to deepen our understanding of God’s Holy Word.
We cannot afford to treat as unimportant the study of eschatology
just because it presents us with inscrutable features or
back away from it just because it is such fertile ground
for disagreement.
We are commanded to
know the signs of the times, to continually be watchful,
and to be ready whatever time Christ comes. Why the hope
of Christ’s Coming is a hope that purifies and prepares.
And a Hopeful, Holy life prepares us for the fight and the
finish as Paul reminds young Timothy in 2 Tim.4v1-8. In
essence, that is what has happened in this infant Church
at Thessalonica. It is without doubt, they have a sure Hope
in the coming of their Saviour which produces a Holiness
of life that prepares them for the Fight and for the Finish.
Because of their hope they will be found faithful to the
end. No faint heartedness here, no throwing in the towel
half way through the fight here, this is a fight to the
finish and they expect to be there at the finish and they
expect to receive their reward. Here is a Church, if being
tried on the charge of being Christian, without any shadow
of doubt would be convicted. They are an Energetic Church,
an Elect Church, an Exemplary Church, an Evangelistic Church,
and most certainly, an Expecting Church.
The early Church had
its greatest impact upon the world when it lived least like
the World. Truly, this was a Miracle and Mighty Church for
Jesus Christ!
It appears that Themistocles,
when a boy, was full of spirit and fire, quick of apprehension,
naturally inclined to bold attempts, and likely to make
a great statesman. His hours of leisure and vacation he
spent not--like other boys--in idleness and play, but he
was always inventing and composing declamations, the subjects
of which were either impeachment’s or defences of some
of his schoolmates, so that his teacher would often say,
"Boy, you will be nothing common or indifferent. You
will either be a blessing or a curse to the community."
So remember, you who
profess to be followers of the Lord Jesus, that to you indifference
is impossible! You must bless the church and the world by
your Holiness, or you will curse them both by your hypocrisy
and inconsistency. In the visible church it is most true
that "no man liveth unto himself, and no man dieth
unto himself." Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
