Published: October 26, 2025 | Speaker: Tim Freitag | Series: The Law of Liberty - Part 8 | Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 3:11-4:12
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things that Paul is saying here in chapter 4 are flowing out of the things he has said before. Um I was a little bit beused that one of the commentators uh had this to say as he begins chapter 4. He says well as is typical in Paul we
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come to exhortation to godly living toward the end of the epistle as though oh Paul never finishes his letters without leaving us with some kind of fortune cookie maxim for how to live. Um, and I to be fair to the man, I don't
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think that's quite how he meant it, but the phrase seemed fairly dismissive of the idea that Paul uh he didn't touch on the logic at all. And it it bothered me. The reason that you
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find the exhortations for godly living towards the end of Paul's letters is because it's flowing out of the foregoing theology. It is wrapped up in those things. The the things that he has
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just said. uh we've talked a bit about the pastoral theology that we've seen here in Thessalonians. This these doxological points here, these are the basis of the instruction
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for godly living. The fact of these things is why he goes on to say therefore live this way. So, uh we we did speak at some length last week about
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the the the wrestling that people have of the like, well, we just need theology or we just need to live godly. And Paul is saying, you have to have both of these things. You can't have the action without the content. You can't have the
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content without the action. That's the crux of of what it means to walk according to godly principles, to be uh blameless in holiness, as he uses his phrase here.
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phrase here. Um so it's wrapped up in this theology. The way that we orient ourselves, the way we behave is a consequence of the theology that goes ahead. Um I do think that we can see this as sort of a new
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section. Um, again, I don't hate a chapter division at the end of this because he does come on to a new thought. It's Paul. He doesn't give us nice easy breaks. The prayer does seem
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to have sort of almost burst out of him. Um, but I did I did like what JB Lightfoot had to say about this. He says, "An outburst of the earnest conviction which was uppermost in the
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apostles mind of the utter worthlessness of all human efforts without the divine aid." The point of that being he prays for them that they would abound in love towards one another and towards all
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because you're not really going to do that without God's help. That's his point here is Paul is thinking about this. He's exhorting them. He's he's encouraging them in it and he recognizes
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effectively instinctively that he must also pray for them in this because this is needful that God encourage you and and teach you this. as he says here in
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um in verse 9 of chapter 4, you yourselves are taught by God to love one another. So he's praying for it and he's encouraging them in in the visibility of it. Okay, so his tone is sort of uh this
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is no surprise, but Paul's tone in these things is exactly right. He doesn't excuse the Thessalonians from their labors in chapter four. He's immediately going to go into points that he wants
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them to exert themselves in effort that they need to put forward and yet he has already prefaced here with asking for God to do this in them. So it's the both and okay
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and okay um to increase in love towards one another which is not necessarily an easy thing. Um one of the commentators said is if you consider this easy it's it's no more than you could see among the
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Gentiles. We talked about that somewhat, but the I think the question remains there that that needs to be examined as we read not only here, right? We could go we could spend probably a whole
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Sunday tracking down the various uh references to loving one another. Do we truly love one another? Because how can we love the world? How can we show love to the world as God showed love to the
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world if we don't truly love one another? It starts here and it must extend. That's what we're we're examining there. Um I will say uh the
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question came up and I'll I'll just briefly address here. Um it's actually not even italicized in the New American Standard Version. The Greek there in verse 12 um where he says, "May the Lord
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cause you to increase and abound in love for one another to all people." Um doesn't actually say all people in the Greek, says to all. Um, I consulted a number of commentators, none of whom
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were willing to excuse that, including both of the sort of Greek uh, specific translations that I examined said, "This is obviously a train of thought that is
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starting in the household of faith and extending to all men. And those who want to confine it only to the churches in the area are doing so erroneously. It must extend out." And there's a number
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of references that we can look at for that. one of which we're going to talk about today in connection to the ending here. And I do want to get us on to verse 13 because verse 13 I think is
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going to help us with some of this. Um I will just read a quote from Leon Morris real quick if you'll allow me
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speaking of these two phrases here of of love and Paul's prayer for them in love. He says Paul's thought is that the whole personality of man can be established, strengthened, settled, given a sure
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confidence only when there is a basis of abundant love. If the center of a man's life is himself, then at best he will have a weak an element of weakness and instability. But where he has learned to
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love his God with all his heart and his neighbor as himself, then he has a firm foundation for life. So he's tying together the idea here that that Paul is
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praying for them in these things because this is the the basis. This is the footing on which the rest of these things can be established and the way that they can be blameless in holiness,
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which is what he says in verse 13. And we talked a little bit about that phrase, blameless in holiness. Are there any particular questions about that blameless and holiness? Yeah, Justin.
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Yes. So, there is a question. So, it doesn't say all men or all people. The Greek literally says to one another and to all. Um, and there are a few commentaries, mostly very old commentaries, as far as I could tell
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from the references, who say that that should be confined only to sort of the church community, but most of those that I would consider to be reformed. And I
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can read some of them if you want. I I went through, I think, eight or nine different commentators who all said no. Uh, I mean, Calvin was was very emphatic that this must be for
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the view that that Jesus has. He uh I think it was Elott who makes reference to Jesus's pray for those who are your enemies or sorry love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you out of
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Matthew 5. That kind of thing he's saying this is an extension and I would refer you as I did in the first example back to Chuck's uh comments out of
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Romans and and dad's several sermons out of first Peter that the world and our interaction with it involves us extending love beyond ourselves. Um, uh,
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John Luke had a good point about, um, how is it that we show love to the world? And I now have, I think, three different hands up. So, I'm going to start with Chuck because I saw his
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apart from any other.
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Yeah. So the the one point I've heard raised in in why we might want to confine it is that he goes on to say, you know, don't defraud your brother in these things. these things. um the the initial comments that he has
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in in chapter 4 seem to be in relation to each other at first. But then of course we've come down here to say uh in part of the reason I stopped at verse 12. He goes through all of this and he says so that you will behave properly
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towards outsiders. Okay. So that those who look on from outside will have nothing to reproach you. A
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behave. The context is how the church is to behave not only with one another. Uh Abigail and then Chuck.
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There is a larger context here and and if we need to and and I can do this I wasn't intending necessarily to spend a whole Sunday but I can go through some of the references that we have. The the context here is the
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the context is the proper behavior of those whom he had a limited amount of time to instruct. And his instruction here is absolutely that they abound in love to one another. I don't I don't
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accept that confining all means that he's now using a second term to talk about the church that was already covered in one another. Chuck the context of the church is always
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that we children's foods. children's foods. I don't think the world doesn't should not get the blessings of fellowship.
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It's not the same. It's more love and don't
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right people are being hung up on the love that makes no distinction. fellowship. I think that would be well that happens a lot where church actually
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shows more love to unbelievers. Yes. That's not right at all. And and it's certainly um you know, Paul Paul is talking about their relationship to one another here, even as we've
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looked at part of four, you know, his point here is is be diligent in your things that you're able to support one another so that you don't have to go ask for help from outside, right? You guys should be supporting one another. You
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should not, as has sometimes happened, that the church has so failed to support its own because it's busy supporting those who are outside. That's not what we're talking about. What we are talking about that flows all the way through the
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scriptures. And I and I will make a point here as we continue um in Jesus's teaching, we see exhortation to love the world in the same manner
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that God loved the world, which is yes, you have compassion. Yes, you desire their good. Yes, you desire that they be saved and brought in. I mean, this is this is the point uh if you'll forgive a
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a a minor aside, this is the point of of the book of Jonah, isn't it? That Jonah goes, "Ah, God, I can't believe you would send me to witness to those people. How dare you send me to Los
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Angeles to evangelize them. I can't believe you would offer salvation to those guys." those guys." God will have mercy on whom he will have mercy. It is not for us. And and we
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could jump ahead. I I considered jumping into second Thessalonians. He says in 2 Thessalonians um I think it's in chapter 2 as he sort of runs through those who hate God, those who are at enmity with
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him, the things they will suffer at the last day when Jesus returns to judge them. It's not for me. That's for when God returns. Okay? It's not for me to
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set that out. It's not for me to to categorize on whom God will have mercy. I don't know. Okay? So that's why I'm saying I I don't think that he's using two terms here to say to one another and
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also to one another. He says to one another and to all. Okay, at different layers. I think that's that's been properly brought out. But I don't think it's only inside the the the body or the
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family. Um I do want to talk about before we because we do need to to get through some of these things. this phrase here at the end um he says uh
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blameless before our God and father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints um he seems to be making reference to the second coming and we've talked about this earlier in the book
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when he says that you um in verse 10 of of chapter 1 to wait for his son from heaven whom he raised from the dead that is Jesus who rescues us
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from the wrath to come. Uh I was a little bit beused the when I first set out to to do these things and I had mentioned to someone that I was working on first and second Thessalonians. They said, "Oh yeah, there's so much
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prophetic things in there." And I I I paused for a little while because I actually don't really see the way that Paul is using this as prophetic. Um
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it's almost casual. And I don't mean that in a I don't mean that in a denigrating way. Paul is using this. I guess maybe we're so conditioned by some of the dispensational things that we
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think about the Lord's return as like this big thing that we've got to solve and detail and and and circumscribe. And Paul sees it really as part and parcel of the Christian life. He sees it as
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suffused. And I think that comes out thoroughly here in in Thessalonians that his is his is it's a piece of the life of a Christian that that it is an attitude just as we
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talked about holiness and being oriented towards God. One of those elements of holiness and being oriented towards God is the anticip anticipation that he will return. The reality of the second coming
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and all that that entails. Um, and I I think there's there's an element of this that we need to examine closely because he's speaking to them in
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an encouraging way, not in a way to say that they are not, but I think it goes to this element of being ready. The idea of readiness for the Lord's return. Um,
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I want to read Matthew 25 real quick. Um, probably not the whole thing, but I think that this helps me to
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contextualize what Paul is doing with the idea of the second coming being so integrated to his theology here.
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Um, you're familiar, of course, with the parable of the 10 virgins. I'm going to read that and I'm going to jump down. I'm going to skip over the parable of the talents for the moment and jump down to the sheep and the goats.
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Matthew chapter 25, I'm going to read 1 through13 to start. He says, "Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to 10 virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five of them were
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prudent. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them. But the prudent took oil and flasks along with their lamps. Now, while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got
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drowsy and began to sleep. But at midnight, there was a shout, "Behold, the bridegroom, come out and meet him." Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the prudent, "Please give us some of your
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oil, for our lamps are going out." But the prudent answered, "No, there will not be enough for us and you, too. Go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves." And while they were going
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away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut. Later the other virgins also came saying,"Lord, Lord, open up for us." But he answered,
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"Truly I say to you, I do not know you. Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour." Um, this connects for me because uh I sympathized
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a little bit. Again, I've grown up here. This is the majority of my teaching. I don't mean this as a fault of anybody who has taught me, but I also uh sympathized with the the writer of of a comment that I read about this. He said,
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"I grew up thinking about this as like as some kind of threat, right?" Um that that I have to be prepared or there's going to be some kind of terrible consequence. He said he likened it. He
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said my my like my little league coach saying, "You got to practice really hard this week or you're going to get pummeled by the team this weekend." You know, I don't know if that's your your method, Justin, as you're teaching uh the little ones soccer. Um but his point
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was no what what we're supposed to be doing here is uh availing ourselves of the resources that are here because of the presence of God in our life now okay
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that we anticipate the second coming of Jesus and yet we are not removed from him we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit we have God within us to teach us the preparation he he made the point
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here he said who do you think slept better those who were prepared and knew that at whatever point they woke up, they would be prepared to light their lamps. Or those who went to sleep knowing that maybe we don't have enough
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in the lamp ready for us. Um the preparation, the readiness, not a readiness of fear or to stave off of a a whole horrible consequence, but a
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preparation for Christ's return. living not in fear of something awful but knowing his presence knowing that we wait for the fullness of his return but that we dwell in his presence that we dwell in his light and in his gift to us
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and I think this is what Paul is is indicating to them is to be ready to avail yourselves of the things that are here to exercise in these things that you are ready for his return I think that's why he keeps saying wait for his
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return he's going to say it again when we talk about what he means when he says fall asleep we're talking about all of these things he has this idea For Paul, it could be imminent. But as Chuck made the point, at no point do any
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of the disciples hang their hat on the fact that it must have been in their lifetime. It could be imminent. Um, I remember a parable, and I could not find it when I went back to look for it. I'm
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going to credit John Bunan because I think it was him, but I don't know. So, sorry if I've credited the wrong person, but he had effectively a parable of um a
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master of a house who has gone away and set his servants to do a bunch of work. And when he returns, some of them have been diligent and some of them have been slacking off because the master was not home. We need to be those who are found
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diligent. It reminded me of the uh uh there was a a thing some weeks ago of of sort of nicknames that people get on job sites and the one fellow was nicknamed motion sensor because he's
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only working when someone's going by. Um we are not meant to be those people. We are meant to be diligent at all times to avail ourselves of these things and to do these things that Paul has here. And
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what are those things? Well, I'm going to read the the sheep and the goats real quick here because I think Jesus gives us an outline of the things that he's going to be looking for in the last day.
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When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all his angels with him, sorry, I'm in verse 31. He will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him
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and he will separate them from one another as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. and he will put the sheep on his right and the goats on the left. the left. Then the king will say to those on his
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right, "Come, you who are blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you
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gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in, naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me." Then the righteous will answer
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him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or feed you or thirsty or give you something to drink? And he said, uh, when did we see you a stranger and invite you in or naked and clothe you?
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When did we see you sick or in prison and come to you? The king will answer and say to them, truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of mine, even the least of them, you did it to me. Then he will
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also say to those on his left, "Depart from me, you are our cursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat. I
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was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink. I was a stranger and you did not invite me in. Naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison, you did not visit me." Then they themselves will answer, "Lord, when did we see you
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hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not take care of you?" And then he will answer them, truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.
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These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. So the idea of meeting needs, the idea of showing compassion, the idea of extending, he speaks here specifically of material
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needs. And I want to make the point since the question came up earlier in your translations where it says
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that's the Greek literally alien when I was an alien and you did not take me in.
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Yes. as to what they were actually doing. First they were they were taking care of Jesus but they weren't aware of it. I
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think that's an important facet that I don't know we should be all that critical in our discernment when a need
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it don't necessarily go into theology right so I do think one of the strongest points of that parable is that neither group actually knew what they were doing
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or But one was being compassionate and merciful, the other was not. Yes, I appreciate that very much. It's it is distinct there that both of them say, "Wait, when did this happen?" And
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Jesus says, "To the extent that you did or did not meet the needs that were presented to you." the those under judgment bring their own
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righteousness to the sun and plead their own righteousness. own righteousness. in that light always read this as they were selfaware as to their good works.
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When did we not when did we see you and not do this? Right. I don't know if you feel like that's an appropriate reading. appropriate reading. I think it's parallel to those who said
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we demon
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And and again, not to make too much of a of a point out of it, but I will I appreciate that thought because you're right. The the the nature of God has not changed and his desire for his people to do good to people has not changed.
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Including the point that Moses makes, take care of the alien in your midst, for so too were you. You were wanderers. You were strangers. You were far from
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home. Uh, you should know what it's like to have people hate you for just that. Chuck, you have your hand up.
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Yeah. Jenny, you had your hand up and then James.
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Yeah. Yeah. That kind of self-conscious righteousness. Yeah, that that's a good point. Um, but Paul is is here. So, I guess this is what I'm trying to draw out as we're we're trying to finish up
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chapter three and move into chapter four, which I think are related ideas. The reason all of this hangs together in these three verses that is his doxological benediction is he says I want you to do these things. I want God
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to work in you. I want you to love one another and I want you to love all so that at the second coming you're on that
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Okay. But I also really appreciate it and I'm going to do something here that that we've only got a few minutes left. Um, I believe it was James Elott and I'm going to try to find his quote here. Um,
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he says here of this um, we got to pick up over here in uh, verse six of chapter 4. I'm going to read just
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the first couple of bits of chapter 4 here. He says, "Continuing on from this thought, finally, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, as you received instruction as to how to you ought to walk to please God, just as you actually
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do walk, that you excel still more. For you know what commandment we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification, that is, you abstain
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from sexual immorality, that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and in honor, not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God." And here verse six, that no man transgress or defraud his brother
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in the matter because the Lord is the avenger of these things just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you. Um he makes the point here. He says um this is not exactly parallel in the
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Greek with the preceding clauses. Um he says but you could read it effectively as this is God's will your sanctification for you to abstain for
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you know how to possess and not to go beyond. It is this final clause expressing the purpose of such continuence as has been described. Men are to be chasted and self-possessed not
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only for their own salvation's sake but in justice to their brethren. In Thessalonians uh 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13 they were to love for the sake of becoming holy. Here they are to be holy
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for the sake of charity. A blessed action and reaction. So what he means is uh in in the end of chapter 3 be loving one another in order that you may be
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holy and in verse uh six of chapter 4 be holy as a form of love to one another. Do we see that this is this is where the
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again frustrates me that the the practical realities that Paul is exhorting to them must flow out of his preceding theology. This is why this is the logic. this is the order they go in.
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Okay, so he's exhorting them to these things. Um, so we see this um this exhortation that he wants them to
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to walk and to please God here. Um, I will, unless there's a a question or comment here, I'm going to point out one more oddity here in the Greek. Um,
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again, this is not to this is not to ruin anybody's uh ability to read their own New Testament. Um, and your translation may say something different. The New American Standard made a choice here that I thought was a little odd.
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So, I'm going to highlight that. Um, he says here in verse two, you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. Which is in italics in mind. Does
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anybody have anything different for that section? So, through the Lord Jesus. through would be much better translation. It's literally one word in the Greek.
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It could be translated potentially as by the authority of. So, one of the other references for this is when they say uh of Jesus, well, he casts out demons through or by the authority of Beelzebub. It's that same word. Okay. So
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authority of maybe I would prefer by or through because it's it's much simpler in Paul's thought here and I think it's maybe overweighting what we're doing
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here by by making this very distinct by the authority of the Lord Jesus. Um his thought is more seamless than that I guess is is the is the objection that
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I'm raising here. Um and I would like it to be just a little bit closer to that there. But he says, "What commandments we gave to you through the Lord Jesus or by or on behalf of because of
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this is the will of God, your sanctification." Uh, a question was asked last week uh I think by by Aaron who's not with us this morning, but um she asked about holiness versus
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sanctification. And some of your translations may go back and forth here. The root word is incredibly similar in the Greek. um
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haggios holy it's they they come from the same thing they look a little bit different in in our English translations but sanctification versus holiness there's not a broad distinction between them either linguistically or I think even in
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the English we understand that sanctification is the the status of being set apart right and so this is the other thing that we're looking at here and I want to draw out here Paul's sort
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of casual use if you'll forive Forgive me for phrasing it that way of the second coming is he's aware. I want you to be working. I want you to be diligent. I want you to be found walking
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in these things when Jesus returns at which time this work will be completed in you. He recognizes the now and not yet in them. And so this is an element
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that we'll see going forward through chapter 4 and into chapter five as we get to some of his more definite mentions of uh the second coming.
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It is that now and not yet is that desire to see them diligent so that when it happens whether now or at some great time in the future and we will see distinctly in in chapter chapter book
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two the second letter um as he says don't be disturbed if you if somebody purports to hand you a letter from me saying this day has already happened and here's why. So we'll we'll see more of
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that later on. The only other thing I'm going to make a point here as we we close um close um end of verse 13 in chapter 3 uh the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his
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saints. Uh literally again in the Greek it is with all his holy ones.
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uh I don't know expositors gave a basically a tally of all of the commentators available in his day of who went for which option. which option. So your options were
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Um I personally find myself in the camp of both. of both. uh a couple pointed out the the sort of logic here of well if he's talking about the saints and he's talking to those who are saints because clearly Paul doesn't
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make saints the way we think of saints that's a little bit muddled here what is he talking about Jenny pointed out to me in Psalm 16 um you know his holy ones
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there's apparently some distinctions if you go into the septuagent the phrase holy ones almost always refers to the angels in the New Testament holy ones is almost always used, not exclusively, but almost always used for believers gets a
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little confusing. I don't know why we have to make the distinction. I'll be excited to see it. So, I don't know if that helps you or if I've just confused you by highlighting it. Um,
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it does help to There's also that debate about the term sons of God and there's a lot of people who wax very complicated
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about that and make big Michael Eiser was a good example of that who made a big deal out of that. And yet
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the term is clearly ambiguous and for good reason because then we're told that we gain the right to be called sons of
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God. Refer Luke refers to Adam as the son of God in his genealogy. It's intentionally a joining of the holy creatures of God,
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not meant there for us pulling them apart. Oh, I appreciate that. Why is this a big deal? We all know
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I was say only if I've done enough good deeds. Right. I've got I've got to I've got to um save somebody first, right? Um so I guess let's go forward. uh is an awkward spot to leave us on maybe. Um
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let's go forward uh in love for one another that our hearts indeed might be established blameless in holiness. Um because that's why we're here. That's what we're after. That's we desire to
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please God in these things. Let's close in prayer. in prayer. Father, we do thank you for your word, for your instruction for us. We ask that you would help us as we contemplate
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these things that it would be uppermost in our minds that we would be diligent in the instruction you have given us. The instruction that that Paul has given us here in the word and indeed the
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prayer that he prayed for the Thessalonians. I would pray for us that you would make us to increase to abound in love for one another and to all that
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as we are filled with the love of God, it would flow out of us in natural consequence. That we would walk uprightly, that we would seek the good of the place in which we live, that we
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would desire to see one another built up and increased and strengthened to do the work of ministry. Father, as we gather to pray and to praise and to hear the
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word preached, I ask your spirit with us, empowering us to do these things. For we recognize it is futile for us to attempt them under our own power. But you have not left us to struggle on our
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own, but have given us everything that we need for life and godliness. So please, Father, be among us at work within us this morning. I ask in Jesus name. Amen.