2 THESSALONIANS CHAPTER 1
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2The 1-1,2 -- No Entries
2The 1,3-10
(7e) Responsibility
>>
Protecting the gospel >> God defends His own
word –
God takes revenge on our enemies, giving to them what they have given to us,
and He sharpens us on the tongs of their adversity. He will let them have their way
for a while,
and then He will act on our behalf, because of His promise to protect us and preserve
His Church in the world. Ultimately, though, He will reward us for all we
have suffered for His namesake. God’s penalty is severe on those
who raise their hand against the innocent.
(98ka) Thy kingdom come >>
Endurance (Thorn in the flesh) >>
Endurance invites the Holy Spirit into your life >>
The salvation of God >> Enduring the wicked is to overcome them – Paul said,
Jesus is the “savior of all men, and especially of those who believe”
(1Tim 4-10). There will always be those who are being
saved. They made Paul’s purpose meaningful as an evangelist and a preacher and a
teacher. If nobody believed, the Church would not exist.
2The 1,3-7
(71d) Authority >>
Ordained by God >> Worthiness of man >> God makes us worthy of heaven
–
God makes us worthy of heaven through our willingness to suffer for His cause.
What is eternal life worth to us? Would suffering cause us to "curse God and
die," as Job’s wife advised him to do (Job 2-9,10)? Job didn’t receive good
advice from anyone; he was completely alone in his suffering, which made it
all the worse, and when he came out the other end, nobody but he was approved.
Note also that nothing was ever spoken against his wife, who enjoyed the fruit
of her husband’s faith. God did not judge his wife in that she submitted to
him, and by that she came under the umbrella of his faith. Suffering has no intrinsic value;
rather, it is endurance; our willingness to accept whatever happens to us.
This has deep, intrinsic value. Those who truly believe in God will not
abandon their faith or sacrifice it or trade it in hope of reducing their suffering; Job’s wife urged him to do just that, saying in essence, ‘Since
the ultimate source of your suffering is God, abandon your faith that your
suffering might end.’ This logic is like saying, ‘Since you have fallen
off the ship and the towline you are holding is causing you to be battered
against the waves, let go of the rope. Job’s wife figured that if he
abandoned his faith, it would reduce his affliction, since God endorsed
it, but abandoning his faith would have only added to his suffering, and in the end he would have had
nothing. Job kept his faith in God, though he was tortured and afflicted by
Satan, which God allowed, and this was also the case with the Thessalonians.
They were being afflicted and persecuted for their faith, and it was their
endurance that gave them the victory. See also: God allows suffering and evil to test us like
He tested Job;
2Tim 4-20; 145ea
(98m) Thy kingdom come
>>
Endurance (Thorn in the flesh) >> Endurance invites the Holy Spirit into your life >>
Endurance invites the judgment of God
–
Persecution and affliction is a plain
indication of God’s righteous judgment, in that He uses it to prove our
worthiness of His kingdom for which indeed we are suffering. It is well enough to say, ‘God, I love
you,’ but the purpose of all this evil in the world and all our suffering is
to prove our love to God. Since He knows everything, it seems moot that we
should prove anything to Him, so it is not really for Him but for us to know. God thinks in terms of eternity. In a
million, billion years from now God doesn’t want any lingering questions such as: do I really love God?
or How do I
know I love God? or Do I really hate sin? or If I had the opportunity to sin, would
I do it? All these questions are answered in the present persecutions and afflictions we endure
every day.
(100a) Thy kingdom come
>>
Perseverance (Working to keep in motion)
>> Persevere in
tribulation – It is one thing to
suffer persecutions and afflictions, but it is another thing to endure them. If we endure
them, it guarantees our spiritual growth, as God promised. There are two kinds of persecution: silent persecution and direct
persecution. In silent persecution they ignore us and hope we go away; but if
that doesn’t work, they will directly persecute us, sometimes to the death,
but this never generates their hoped result, which is to rid the world of Christianity. Therefore, when God and His people are bent on
articulating the gospel, the world is powerless to stop it.
(156e) Witness
>>
Validity of the believer >> Evidence of
salvation >> You will know them by their
endurance
(188e) Die to self (Process of substitution)
>>
Separation from the old man >> Suffering >>
Suffering the will of God in your life –
Endurance is one of the great virtues of Christianity. The willingness to
endure our circumstances holds promise in this life and the one to come;
it is the very foundation of our faith in Jesus. Faith is summed up in the
word “endurance.” If we are willing to live for Jesus under any and all
circumstances, Jesus considers us His disciples. True faith is not hinged on circumstances, but on
the truth we believe, which remains constant. Christians who have an easy life go to heaven because of their
faith in Jesus, and those who believe in Jesus to spite their persecutions and
afflictions, or
disease or bodily illness, their willingness to endure their suffering draws
them closer to
Jesus, and God sees them as more than acceptable but worthy of His
Kingdom. We could say that nobody is worthy of heaven; we are all sinners
saved by the grace of God, but
He also says of those who willingly suffer for His namesake, they are brethren
to Christ who suffered on the cross for them.
(242kb) Kingdom of God
>>
Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >>
Persecuting the kingdom >> Reacting to
persecution >> Enduring persecution >> Having a reputation of being
persecuted
– Paul speaks proudly of the Thessalonians to
all the other churches, because of “your perseverance and faith in the midst
of all your persecutions and afflictions, which you endure.” This is the
mechanism of their spiritual growth: persecution and affliction. They will
cause us to either fall away from the faith or flourish. If we have nothing more than a religion, then we will flee from
persecution and affliction. No matter what brand of religion we have,
it is never worth pain and suffering. However, our faith in Jesus is worth it.
Those who are religious tend not to be persecuted, but those who have
a genuine faith in Jesus Christ will be persecuted (2Tim 3-12), because of the
Holy Spirit that exudes from them, for He is an offense to the world. Even
love can give offense to some people, because they suspect the Lord Jesus
Christ is behind it. The world hates God and it always will, but there will
always be some who will be saved from the world and cleave to Christ and
become His children, adopted by the Spirit.
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2The 1,3-5
(115j) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >>
Working the grace of God >> Through obedience of
faith >> Through determination
>> Determined to obey Christ
(137l) Temple
>>
Building the temple (with hands) >> Maturity >>
Maturing with our brothers >> Maturity is tested
by our relationship with others
2The 1-3,4
(11h) Servant
>>
Love is our standard of ministry – The true test of faith and love is adversity. If we maintain our convictions through
the difficulties of life, it will authenticate our sincerity
both to ourselves and to those who observe our behavior. Endurance is one of
our most
valuable assets, in that it takes us where we want to go, and bridges
the gap between what we have and what we want, between who we are and who we want to be. It is our ticket
to honor, where only greatness treads, demonstrated by caring for others more than
ourselves.
(81j) Thy kingdom come
>>
Pray without ceasing >> For the Church --
These verses go with verses 11&12
(229b)
Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living
organism >> Kingdom grows by itself >>
Growing in numbers corresponds with spiritual growth >>
Kingdom grows in strength –
What better compliment could Paul give than that God's people were growing? He
was happy that the church was growing spiritually and that they understood
God on a deeper level every day. This guaranteed the Church’s very existence in the world more than if it
were growing numerically. Growing numerically without knowing what they
believed or why would spell extinction for the Church, but when the Church grows
spiritually, it guarantees they will also grow in numbers, which in
many respects is just as important. To be growing in the love of God is to be
growing in love toward one another, which is the greatest proof that Jesus
lives in us. So, there is priority in everything, the Church’s spiritual
health coming before numbers. If the Church is not spiritually growing, it is
dying, and
people would sense their decay and flee from it. The Holy Spirit wants to impart
quality into us before we grow in numbers.
2The 1-3
(125a) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Love is the action of
faith >> Love is the response of receiving from
God
(131i) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Unity >>
Interdependence >> Encouraging one another
(156d)
Witness >> Validity of the believer >> Evidence of salvation
>> Loving your fellow man is evidence of
salvation >> Love the brethren
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2The 1,4-10
(157a) Witness >> Validity of the believer >> Evidence of being hell-bound >> Rejecting God >> Rejecting the truth
–
The Bible is explicit about making a distinction between dying from famine,
disease and war, and dying as a result of persecution, just because we believe
in Jesus. The
Thessalonians suffered persecution at the time of this writing, and Paul was
telling them to look forward to the second coming of Christ when they will be
vindicated, when He comes 2000 years later as though he came in their own time
and caught their persecutors red-handed, for God does not recognize time. God
in his righteous judgment condemns those who afflict His people and gives
relief to the saints, according to Jesus story about the rich man and Lazarus
(Lk 16-25). His second coming is not just about judgment but also about giving
relief to the Church that will be persecuted in the last days; that is
Paul’s promise. It will not be a light persecution against the Church but
one whose enemy’s goal is to completely eradicate every Jew and Christian
from the earth. The fact that Jesus’ return occurs at this time suggests
that if He didn’t come, their enemies would have succeeded. This is how
severe the persecution will be during the first five Seals of Satan’s wrath,
significantly lowering the population of the earth. Not just Christians but
the whole will suffer at the hands of this tyrant.
2The 1-4,5
(189c) Die to self (Process of substitution)
>>
Separation from the old man >> Holy sacrifice >>
Acceptable sacrifice -- These verses go with verses 11,12
(192f) Die to self (Process of substitution)
>>
Result of putting off the old man >> Gain by
losing >> Waiting for God to do it His way >>
Lose your rights to gain His vindication -- These verses go with verse
10
(209e) Salvation
>>
The salvation of God >> Righteous saved with
difficulty >> Righteous saved with hardship >>
Righteous saved with endurance – God considers those in heaven worthy of being there, because of
their endurance, meaning that our suffering does not bring about God’s righteous judgment; our endurance
does. We know that no one actually deserves heaven or to be saved or
forgiven, but if God considers us worthy, who are we to argue with Him (Lk
20-35). God by His sovereign authority has deemed us worthy of Him by enduring
the things we suffer. Some people might want to become masochistic and seek afflictions in order to become more worthy of His kingdom, but it
is not how much we endure, but our willingness to endure His word (Heb 12-19).
Anybody who is bold enough to believe in Jesus in a world that
hates God is guaranteed a life of adversity, so there is no need to look for
trouble. “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be
persecuted” (2Tim 3-12). Suffering and afflictions are guaranteed
in this life because of our faith, as though it were made of suffering, being so much
an aspect of this
life, so engrained into the natural realm, affecting our human
experience to its very core, so enduring our personal afflictions proves
our faith, and by that God approves us.
2The 1-4
(165h) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >> Hardship >>
The hardship of persecution
2The 1,5-12
(38d) Judgment
>>
Jesus defeated death (Satan) >> Resurrection
brings about judgment –
There is a day set by the Father, the First Resurrection, which also happens to
be the day of the Rapture, called the day of the Lord. That day will be
preceded by a sequence of days consisting of years in which God will judge the
earth through various plagues through the Trumpets as a consequence of martyring His
saints, leading
to the crescendo of the First Resurrection. We glorify
Him by our faith, and He glorifies us through His works that He performs for our
benefit and for the destruction of our enemies. That day is still coming
when Paul and the people of his day who believed in Jesus will be raised from
the dead to receive new bodies, terminating the kingdoms of men and ushering in
the glorious age of Millennium, initiating His eternal kingdom. Paul is writing about the very last day of this age, which will be a very glorious day when Jesus comes to be glorified in
His saints, and He
will glorify them, giving them new bodies that cannot die.
2The 1,5-10
(28i) Gift of God
>>
God is our advocate >> God crushes those who
make us stumble
(29a) Gift of God
>>
God is our advocate >> Delivered from our
persecutors –
We know that God will deliver us from our enemies in the life to come, but
what about this life? Many people
ask why God allows suffering. The enemies
of the gospel will suffer in hell forever; therefore, it is righteous that God
should allow us to suffer for a little while, that we may be comforted forever (Lk 16-25). God lets the cards fall where they
may, instead of coming to our rescue every time we run into trouble. If He did, it would disable the whole point of adversity, which is to strengthen our faith. In heaven there won't be any adversity, but in this
life faith grows as we struggle in our difficulties. What we discover about
ourselves is that we still believe in God though we suffer, proving that
we believe in Jesus no matter what happens to us, and that is what God wants
us to know. God’s
intensions for us are good, and no evil has come from Him, though He uses it to
test us, and He rewards us accordingly. He is always ready to help us grow
in our faith through our circumstances, which is the purpose for us in this
life. God has commanded us to be separate from
the world, and communicate the gospel that some might be saved. We
make enemies that way, yet we
overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. We are a people for His own possession, zealous for good
works, who
will live with Him forever in His kingdom, and He has taken some
from every nation for thousands of years that His kingdom may be
filled. See also: Hell; 2The 1,6-10; 21d / God allows suffering and evil to
test us;
Heb 3,15-19; 203b
(40m) Judgment >> God is glorified >> God defends His righteous ones through judgment
(49k) Judgment >>
Judgment day >> God judges the world >>
The great tribulation – In the same way that God wants us to prove
our faith, He desires the wicked to prove their unbelief, so He can judge
them for it, referring to the war of Armageddon in the last days when
man becomes fused to Satan, who together literally wage war
against God. Of course Satan is leading them, so it is questionable if the devil really hopes to win this war through the use of human flesh or
if he is purposely herding mankind into a meat shredder and a great furnace of God’s
fury? The answer
is probably that both are true, in that Satan is self-deceived, thinking he
can beat God. Mankind will have become
insane; indeed, a spirit of insanity has already entered the very
fabric of social consciousness in preparation for this war, and it only makes sense that their leader is
also insane,
though he knows in his heart that winning a war against God is impossible. Satan
drives mankind into
judgment with God, like pushing him in front of a speeding truck. Prior to
this war God will have pummeled the earth with many punishments throughout the
trumpets and the bowls, yet they have
learned nothing from any of this, but continue in vain to defeat God, which will end the same moment it
started.
2The 1,5-7
(49e) Judgment
>>
Enemies of God’s church are destroyed
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2The 1,6-10
(15j)
Servant >> Angels execute Judgment >> In regard to the world
(21d) Sin
>>
Disobedience will condemn you to hell – It doesn’t say that God deals out
retribution to those who do not believe; it says He deals out
retribution to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ. God doesn’t care what we believe; He only cares that we
obey Him, for it is an indicator of what we believe the truth. The gospel
message is that we should believe in Jesus by obeying
His commandment, which is to love one another, but we can’t love God’s people while we
are persecuting and
afflicting them. Persecutors of God's Church have denied heaven and have
proven their hated of Him, and for this reason He created a place for them, where His presence does not
exist; shouldn't
that make them happy? Nothing of Himself is there; He has removed all attributes of Himself from it. There is virtually nothing in
hell that would remind anyone of God, not a flitting bird through the sky,
not a sky, no clouds, no rain, no water, no trees, nothing alive or growing. There is nothing in hell but a sea of humanity who refuses to serve
God and a boiling caldron of liquid hot magma in which God will throw them.
Those who find their way out of the lake of fire are welcome to lie on the
shores of nowhere with only the memories of evil tormenting their minds
forever, having forgotten every happy moment they ever had, perhaps
forgetting there was ever a sky and birds that played in the breeze. All they will ever know is their darkness now. The sadness of their
souls alone would kill any mortal, but now they cannot die. After a million
years if God released them and gave them a second chance, they would all
conspire against His throne, and He would have to throw them all back
into hell again where they belong. See also: Hell; 25l
(25l)
Sin
>>
Consequences of sin >> You’re walking in
death if you’re not walking in Jesus – Life
in hell is a mystery, eluding even its inhabitants. The living dead is an
oxymoron, yet this is the condition of those in hell. 2Cor 5-10,11 says, “Always carrying about
in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be
manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over
to death for Jesus sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in
our mortal flesh.” Something similar is happening to those in hell, only
minus any form of life. The damned are dead, yet behold they live. They are not
suffering for Jesus’ sake like Paul said and like those of us who obey
Christ experience on a daily basis,
but they are alive just the same, though they are dead, but they can never
fully die. They should have become
Christians rather than eternally reliving our suffering of obedience in
a body that does not want to serve the Lord. The meaning of being alive in
hell is not the same as being alive in the flesh, any more than we
understand life in heaven, but one day we will go there and experience it first hand.
See also: Hell; 104e
(29h) Gift of God
>>
God is on our side >> He fights our battles
for us
(40b) Judgment
>>
Jesus is the judge >> Jesus judges the world’s
disobedience
(87b) Thy kingdom come
>>
Obedience >> Be doers of the word from the
heart >> We have no choice but to be doers of
the word
(104e) Thy kingdom come
>>
Purifying process >> Purified by fire >>
Hell is an eternal purifying process – God is totally committed to
honoring man's free will that He has given us. God has established the earth in a very large
universe to prove His grandeur and for us to prove our loyalty to Him. God has given us an
ability to love and hate, and He intends to reward those who serve Him and condemn the rest to eternal
judgment in hell. We could call it
punishment; God does, but more than that, hell is a place of the dead. He
made it for those who love death and believe in sin rather than worshipping
God through faith and love. Hell is the only alternative to heaven, the only
place in God's inhabited creation that does not support life. It’s a place that
God has prepared for those who prefer to be stuck in an eternally
descending process of dying, rather than enjoying eternally increasing joy in heaven. It is their choice; people don’t have to go to
heaven if
they don’t want, but at the same time God doesn’t feel
obligated to make a comfortable alternative for those who refuse to serve
Him. If man doesn’t want God, then neither will they enjoy any of His
wonderful characteristics. See also: Hell; 208e
(109a) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >>
Revelations of the Holy Spirit >> Spirit
reveals the Father
(180h) Works of the devil
>>
Practicing witchcraft >> Rebellion >>
Rebelling against God’s narrow way >>
Rebelling against the word of God
(200d) Denying Christ
>>
Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >>
Rejecting Christ >> Rejecting the faith of God >> Rejecting Christ through disobedience –
The world wants to be master
of its own destiny, and so God gave them what they wanted, time and opportunity to show
that they were adamant about wanting nothing to do with Him. It wasn’t a flippant decision they
made, unless we define flippant as having 70 or 80 years to make a single
decision. On the one hand God condemns the wicked for
not obeying the gospel, and on the other hand He glorifies the saints
because they have believed. The wicked could not produce a
single response of faith, while the saints were dedicated to bearing fruit
for the Kingdom of God and demonstrating their faith in everything they said
and did.
(208e) Salvation
>>
The salvation of God >> Salvation verses >>
Preaching on hell – Hell is such a
horrible place that a mortal man could not live a second there, either from the
terror of being condemned by God as
sinners or from the conditions of hell itself. Putting them together, then, is
death upon death. Those in hell are continually dying, yet behold they live. They might as well have served the
Lord in this life by dying to sin rather than spending
eternity dying in sin (2Cor 6-9,10). At least we have the Holy Spirit during our time of sorrow, which turns our
grief to joy in hope of eternal life and for the
opportunity to suffer for His namesake, but those in hell glorify God by their
eternal suffering. See also: Hell; 2The 1,8-10; 47i
(218c) Sovereignty
>>
God overrides the will of man >> God’s will
over man >> You cannot control the judgment of
God >> You cannot control how God responds to
persecution
2The 1,6-9
(153d) Witness
>>
Validity of the Father >> God bears witness
against the world >> Shame >>
Hiding under a cloud of guilt >> Your sin will
find you out
2The 1-6,7
(117d)
Thy kingdom come >> Faith >>
Rest in Jesus (Sabbath) >> Let Jesus do the work >>
Let Him work on your circumstances
(228a) Kingdom of God
>>
God’s kingdom is a living organism >> God
working in you >> Comforted >>
God comforts you in times of adversity >> He
comforts you in your suffering
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2The 1,7-9
(66a) Authority
>>
Lordship of Christ >> He is Lord over all
creation >> over life and death
2The 1,8-10
(47i) Judgment
>> God Judges the world
>>
Hell is the absence of God –
Those in hell who will suffer forever would find heaven even worse, because
God is there, the very person they hate; and all the saints will be there, many of whom they
martyred. If heaven were forced upon them, they
would have a perpetual reminder of their wickedness, and so the best thing to
do is find a place where God does not exist, a place that God has prepared for those who hate Him,
where no good thing dwells, and that place is hell. The Bible talks about the lake of fire, but it also talks about the
wicked receiving a resurrected body, and we don’t know what kind of body
they will receive, but we can assume it will be a body suited for the
environment of hell. If they can endure fire, who knows what differences they will have to their current bodies.
If they have never repented of their unbelief and die in their sins, they will stand before God not wishing to go to heaven and not
wanting to go to hell; their hearts will be filled with angst. The kindness that God had shown them throughout
their lives will have ended on the day of their death. Now, for the rest of eternity
all they will experience is suffering and evil, and there is no one to blame but
themselves. The hell they will face will match their own darkness, and it won’t make them happy. They will be alone with no one to care for
them, thrown into a world that is just like them. They have finally found a place that models after
their own heart, and it will make them miserable, because they never stopped to think of the misery
they caused
other people. See also: Hell; 2The 1-8,9; 26c
2The 1-8,9
(26c)
Sin >> Consequences of sin
>>
Death is separation from God’s presence –
Hell is a place apart from God’s presence and from the glory of His power.
It says that the wicked will suffer eternal destruction. Many people these
days don’t believe in the existence of hell, or else they say that those who
are thrown into the lake of fire will be burned up and their existence
terminated. They think eternal suffering is unjust. The reason they don’t
believe in the notion of hell is that they are going there, and for this
reason they misconstrue every verse in the Bible that speaks of hell,
including this one, interpreting eternal destruction as annihilation,
but that is not what Jesus taught (Lk 16-23,24). Some claim to believe in
Jesus, but their claim comes shy of a confession of faith. Unbelievers do not
marvel at God, though He is marvelous. People marvel at fireworks on the 4th
of July when they light up the sky with vary-colored sparks (oooh, aaah).
Christ’s second coming will be an amazing spectacle, yet the wicked will not
marvel at Him. For them it will be a time of great sorrow, because they
worshipped someone who hated them when they could have worshipped the lover of
their souls. People will have made the wrong decision to live against the Lord
and thought of Him like a fairy tale, and now here He comes, and all their
theories are proven wrong in an instant, and their lives are over, and all
that remains is for them is to be cast into hell, where their suffering will
never end.
See also: Hell; 203h
(154a) Witness
>>
Validity of the Father >> God bears witness
against the world >> No excuse >>
There is no excuse for rejecting Christ
(173g) Works of the devil
>>
The religion of witchcraft >> Catholicism >>
Unholy sacrifice
>> Offering sacrifice without
God’s approval >> Sacrifice against the will
of God
(201b) Denying Christ
>>
Whoever is not with Jesus is against him >> You
are against Christ when your unbelief materializes >>
Our disobedience is against Christ
(203a) Denying Christ
>>
Running from God >> Wicked men cannot approach
the throne of God >> God chases them away from
His presence
(203h) Denying Christ
>>
Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >>
Back-slider >> Withdraw from obeying God >>
Withdrawing from God –
We are not to judge our brother as to whether he believes in God or is saved
or is going to heaven, for we don’t know a person’s heart; even if we accurately judged a person, we
did not rightly judge him. There are
people who never believed in God, who never made a confession of faith or a
claim to godliness; these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction in hell, and if anybody withdraws from God to
the point of losing his salvation, which is possible, they will go to the same
place. Those who grossly
disobey Christ do not believe in Him either. Some have repented of their
waywardness and returned to Christ, whereas others have crossed an indistinct line. Those who have given
up on God and given up on faith, believing instead that Christianity is a
fairytale, they are lumped with those who never believed, with one distinct disadvantage: their heart has been
hardened to the point of no return. See also: Hell; 2The 1,5-10; 29a
(209c) Salvation
>>
The salvation of God >> Personal relationship >>
Counterfeit relationship through religion >> I
never knew you
2The 1-8
(217i) Sovereignty
>>
God overrides the will of man >> God’s will
over man >> I never knew you >>
Because you never knew Him
2The 1-9
(145f) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear
witness of Himself >> Deliverance from demon
possession >> Human state >>
Filthiness >> Being defiled
2The 1,10-12
(66c) Authority
>>
Lordship of Christ >> Jesus is Lord of His
people
(95k) Thy kingdom come
>>
Attitude >> Having an obedient attitude >>
Ready to do good
(233j) Kingdom of God
>>
Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the glory of God >> Seek His glory without wavering
>>
Seek His glory through perseverance –
In Mat 5-6 Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
righteousness, for they shall be satisfied,” and Paul prays for the
Thessalonian Church that God would fulfill every desire for goodness and the
work of faith with power. There are things that people want to do, ministries
that God plants in their hearts that seek ways of helping people and doing good for mankind in the name
of Jesus Christ. By this, they need to work with God, and He will empower
their faith. A human effort merely accomplishes what is done; but
when God gets involved, He multiplies the fruit that is born of faith. When people understand we
attribute Christ to our righteousness, they will either persecute us, which will
act to publicize the work of God, or inspire others to get involved who seek to glorify
His name. See also: working the grace of God; 2The 1-10; 252i
2The 1-10
(192f) Die to self (Process of substitution)
>>
Result of putting off the old man >> Gain by
losing >> Waiting for God to do it His way >>
Lose your rights to gain His vindication -- This verse goes with verses
4&5
(236l) Kingdom of God
>>
Pursuing the kingdom >> Transferring the kingdom >> The Church is transferred to the kingdom
>>
The Rapture >> The day of the Lord –
This is another instance of the Day of the Lord. every
time it is mentioned in the Bible its significance increases, which increases
our need to properly understand it.
(252b) Trinity
>>
You shall put no other gods before Me >> Worship
Jesus (Because He is equal with God) >> Jesus is
worthy of our worship >> Worship Jesus for who
he is
(252i) Trinity
>>
You shall put no other gods before Me >> Worship
God >> Worship God for who He is >>
Glorifying God –
The goal of every Christian is to glorify God. Jesus said, “He
who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be
manifested as having been wrought in God.” When it comes to glorifying
God, all the passages that speak of it dovetail into this one: Jn 3-21. Our ministry originated from Him; He put it in us. This is not
humanism; we are not good people. God has placed His goodness in us that
hungers and thirsts for righteousness (Mat 5-6), and we are seeking a ministry
from Him, conceived in our heart by the Holy Spirit, and we desire to
manifest that ministry in the world as a way of conveying to everyone who sees
and hears that God desires His grace in them too. See also: working the grace of God; 2The 1-11,12;
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2The 1-11,12
(11b) Servant
>>
Standard for being a servant >> A Spirit-filled
life
(30e) Gift of God
>>
Prepare to receive from God >> We must first get
His attention
(44j) Judgment
>>
Transformed >> Fulfill your ministry according
to the will of God
(71e) Authority
>>
Ordained by God >> Worthiness of man >> Perfecting the worthiness He
has given us
(77m) Thy kingdom come
>>
Being Humble Before God >> Exalting God through
humility
(81j) Thy kingdom come
>>
Pray without ceasing >> For the Church --
These verses go with verses 3&4
(82c) Thy kingdom come
>>
Three elements of prayer >> Direction (Attitude) >> Who to pray for
(91g) Thy kingdom come
>>
The called >> Walking along the narrow way >>
Responding to the call of God –
Christ gives His disciples an opportunity to prove
their faith, to show that they are worthy of their calling. How do we prove
our worthiness? We walk on our designated trail of good works that God has
prepared for us, known as the narrow way. This is also how we
“fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power.”
It’s all on this trail, not on any trail but our trail that God tailor made
just for us. Each person has his own narrow way that God has
prepared, and each person’s trail leads to the same destination, which is
faith in Jesus Christ. It is analogous to Jesus shining with the glory of God,
and we all come to Him on our own designated light beam. We all arrive in a similar fashion, but from a slightly different perspective. If we
walk according to this trail, we will have perfect faith in
God, which will encourage others, because it won’t be a carbon copy of any
one else's faith, because of the distinct ways we all take to get there. This
is why each of us has something to offer the body of Christ. Not everyone
experiences the Lord the same way. The things we offer need to be available
to others, and the product we offer is the work of faith with
power. See also: Working the grace of God; 116a
/ Trail of good works (Works that God has prepared for us);
1Tim 4-6; 110j
(116a) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Through Good Works >>
Works That God put in your heart –
It
is a travesty for some who have a desire for goodness to leave that goodness
unfulfilled. We cannot fulfill those desires without an endowment from above.
Since
this was Paul’s prayer, it is something he is asking God to do with them. We too must strive to fulfill
our desire for goodness and pray for God’s help in fulfilling our calling, working
with God to perfect our faith. Most people
understand the grace of God as it pertains to His willingness to
forgive our trespasses and sins, but that refers to His mercy. In contrast, His grace
empowers us to do His will. Working with the grace of God is like a
lever with the fulcrum that allows us to do His
works. We must desire goodness to do His works according to His power. We all
know that the works of God and the works of men are two different things;
however, God wants these to come together, and the motivating factor behind
them is our desire for goodness. These two things, the works of men and the
works of God seem incompatible, but God seeks to harmonize them. The goal of Christ is to make
His works our works. There are things that only God can do, but when it comes to manifesting God in
the world, He has given us an
assignment, “Working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive
the grace of God in vain” (2Cor 6-1). The saints have
tapped into the power of God, and this is how we produce the work of faith.
Our life of faith is not difficult; rather, it is our joy. See also:
Working the grace of God; 2The 1-11;
76j
(117c) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >>
Rest in Jesus (Sabbath) >> Rest in His yoke by faith
(127h) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Goodness >>
Rewards for doing good >> Doing good is the will
of God
(189c) Die to self (Process of substitution)
>>
Separation from the old man >> Holy sacrifice >>
Acceptable sacrifice -- These verses go with verses 4&5
(228f) Kingdom of God
>>
God’s kingdom is a living organism >> God
working in you >> God is working in you to place
you in His will >> To place you on the trail of
good works
(230b) Kingdom of God
>>
God’s kingdom is a living organism >>
Partaking >> What we must do to partake of the
kingdom >> Partaking which requires our
participation
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WEB
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2The 1-11
(76j) Thy kingdom come
>>
Desires of your heart >> Desiring to do the will
of God –
God gives us desires for goodness, and then works in us to fulfill those
desires, so all we have to do is obey Him. We shouldn’t
fuss or complain about His will, because we know it is the best thing for us
and for those around us. Doing His will brings glory to His name, which should
be our top priority. Obeying Christ is a win-win situation for everyone, and
God is in control of it, orchestrating His righteousness in each of us. Those
around us seem a little lost, but we are walking
with God and striving to do His will. We can
see a logical procession of good works linked in a chain of events that lead
to our feet where we are now standing. We can see the work of God in our lives, though not everything
we say and do is part of our calling. We were born to
do the works that God prepared for us (Eph 2-10), so that doing them leads to a better understanding of Him.
See also: working the grace of God; 88b
(88b) Thy kingdom come
>>
Faith produces works >> Relationship between
faith and works >> The work of faith – It is not a quantitative work that God
has prepared for us but a qualitative work (1Cor 3-13).
God is not content with sitting in the background but is ready to manifest
Himself in our works. Some people want the power of
God for all the wrong reasons and others shy from it altogether. They fear
listening to the wrong spirits and getting lost and confused. However, if the Bible says there is such a thing
as “the work of faith with power,” then we should pursue it without fear,
not on our own terms but according to Scripture, for this in itself is a demonstration of His power.
God works with each of us differently, not just a little differently but a lot
differently, and this is something we need to understand so we don’t
wrongfully judge each other. See also: working the grace of God; 2The 1,10-12;
233j
2The 1-12
(67j)
Authority >> Jesus delegates authority
>>
Glorifying the name of Jesus –
It takes the grace of God for us to glorify the name of Jesus, for we can’t
do it in the flesh. Christ is glorified in us and we in Him; we
glorify each other. Jesus and the Father have the same relationship,
according to Jn 17-1, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the
Son may glorify You.” We glorify each other in stepladder fashion, one
rung at a time, the right foot is His, the left foot is ours, as God lifts us to new levels of spiritual maturity. We glorify
Christ in the knowledge we have of Him that we reveal to the world, that we
use in the Church to help each other grow in the faith. He
glorifies us in the ministry we have in His name, and reveals
the blessing and glory that is ours both in this life and in the one
to come.
See
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