We’re Almost Home
1 Thessalonians: Christ is Coming again • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction
Introduction
As a kid, whenever my family would take roadtrips and be traveling back from seeing family or going on a vacation, one of the questions that I and I think every child in such situations asks of their parents is: How much longer do we have? After being away from home, it’s a blessing to get to come home and have the security and normalcy of being in our place and sleeping in our own bed. My parents would answer and say, “We’re almost home.” After a long time in the car, this was a good report to hear!
Think about our life in this world as a roadtrip with this update being our reality - we’re almost home. Our destination is secure. God is faithful. He has saved us. He will sustain us. We are secure in Him. Tonight as we conclude this study through 1 Thessalonians, let’s be reminded of what Jesus has done and what He promises to do!
23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. And may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
24 He who calls you is faithful; he will do it.
25 Brothers and sisters, pray for us also.
26 Greet all the brothers and sisters with a holy kiss.
27 I charge you by the Lord that this letter be read to all the brothers and sisters.
28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
The Basis of Spiritual Security (23-24)
The Basis of Spiritual Security (23-24)
One of the most common things that we see at the end of Paul’s letters is a benediction - a short prayer of blessing on these people who are not only friends, but brothers and sisters in the faith. Paul does this in Romans, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, and here in 1/2 Thessalonians too! Notice the flow of this prayer as we’ve talked about how we are to pray as believers. Paul starts with the character of God - the God of peace. In the midst of a world at war, as we talked about this morning, isn’t it a blessing to know that we have a God of peace who not only is peace but dispenses peace? One of the most wellknown passages of Scripture is Ephesians 2:1-10 and for good reason! But if you look at the rest of Ephesians 2, you see Paul explain the benefits of God’s peace for God’s people. Notice what this text says about the peace of God
12 At that time you were without Christ, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world.
13 But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14 For he is our peace, who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In his flesh,
15 he made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that he might create in himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace.
God gives us peace through the work of Jesus Christ. Jesus gives us peace with the God of peace and Jesus gives us peace with one another as well! Biblically, it is impossible to have lasting peace vertically or horizontally apart from the God of peace… but man oh man does our world try to find this in other places! We live in a world looking for peace and security under every rock and crevasse. Forbes did a study a few years ago about what people desire the most but fail to attain, any guess what was at the top of the list? Happiness. Also on that list, peace of mind and security. So often people believe the lie of the American Dream that says that if I just get one more thing, then I’ll be happy. I’ll finally have peace of mind if I just accomplish this one task. The Super Bowl is being played right now and without question there are players who are this mindest that if they can just win this game then they’ll finally be happy and satisfied. But they’ll wake up tomorrow, later this week, later this month and realize that it doesn’t last. We can’t look for this world to satisfy us. We can’t look to this world for lasting peace. We can’t look to this world for happiness because those things will always change and leave us longing for more!
What does our God of peace do? Sanctifies His people completely. Think of the song, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” - “Peace on earth goodwill to men.” Well, if it’s in the hymn book it must be true. But this is not what the Bible tells us!
14 Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people he favors!
God is the God of peace and gives peace to people He favors, or as other translations render it, “Those with whom He is well pleased.” Let’s think of this, how do we please God? Apart from faith in Christ, we can’t! The only people who receive peace and goodwill from God are those who are saved. We wonder why there isn’t peace, it’s because people don’t have Christ. But if you do have Christ, what does God do? Sanctifies His people completely. Not partly. Not mostly. Completely! This is good news because we know that sanctification is progressive. We progressively grow to be more like Jesus. We daily die to self and pick up our cross and follow our Christ. The same Jesus that saved us is the same Jesus that continues to work in us and change us.
Mark Howell shares this, “While sanctification is the work of God, believers must still assume an active role in this process by obeying God’s Word, following God’s will, and surrendering to God’s Spirit.” We can think of this in terms of a tree producing fruit. We are connected to the vine of Christ as John 15 tells us. He is the vine, we are the branches. This is justification. He saves us. We are declared innocent. We are forgiven. We are made alive! But this isn’t where things stop. We are connected to the vine and then we produce fruit. This is sanctification. Looking more and more like Jesus. Some people and some denominations are so caught up with works that they are tempted to think that their works are what saves them, that couldn’t be further from the truth! Good works are the fruit of being saved, they aren’t the root, Jesus is the root. This is so important to understand that once you are connected to Christ, once you have peace with God through the work of Jesus Christ, you have complete spiritual security and confidence that you are kept by God. He is faithful. The Greek word for “calls you” is a present and active verb indicating that God continues to do this work of sanctification in our lives today. He is faithful.
6 I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Isn’t this a tremendous blessing? You don’t have to worry about God being on your side one day and against you the next. Whenever you are in Christ, you are forever changed. You receive salvation. But this work just starts at salvation, this isn’t the end of our spiritual story, it’s the beginning. God began it. As we continue to die to self, take up our cross, and follow Him, He continues to work.
33 Who can bring an accusation against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies.
34 Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is the one who died, but even more, has been raised; he also is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us.
This is our spiritual security. Jesus has us. Jesus changes us. He holds us fast. He is coming back for us.
Back in October of 2022 there were climate activists who were protesting in an art gallery in London. They were able to bring in 2 cans of Tomato Soup and they opened the cans and threw the soup all over Vincent Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” painting. Not only this, but they then glued themselves to the art gallery wall! Eventually authorities got them escorted out and the gallery made a press release: “There was some minor damage to the frame, but the painting itself was unharmed.” There was a fine layer of protection, completely imperceptible to the human eye, that protected the painting from the damage of the outside world. This world will try to hurl accusations against us. The law will remind us of our failings. But in all of this, our faithful God protects us and see’s us through. Our frame will take on some minor damage, but we ourselves are kept unharmed. The basis for spiritual security is because of the finished work of Jesus Christ and the very nature of our God! God keeps His promises.
The Benefits of Spiritual Security (25-28)
The Benefits of Spiritual Security (25-28)
The basis of our spiritual security is the character of God and the work of Jesus. Not self and not our own works. Let’s look at the benefits that this security brings to ourselves and our congregation. We have brothers and sisters in Christ who pray for us. We fellowship with one another. We receive God’s grace together. The benefits of our salvation are not simply to stay internalized, but are to publicized. Think about what can happen at times after our salvation. We are saved by grace through faith, not by raising a hand, not by getting dunked in water, not by a work that we do but through the work of Jesus in our lives. We are saved and we celebrate! But what happens if we’re not careful? We come crashing down that mountain top moment. Temptation creeps in. Some leave church entirely because they don’t have spiritual leaders helping disciple them. We have an internal temptation to grow lukewarm and become lazy. Whenever we become lazy and lukewarm, there is a temptation to view salvation as a “once saved always saved” free pass to do whatever we want, whenever we want, however we want. In other words, some deceive themselves into thinking that because of this security, they can continue living in sin. Consider what Paul shares about this in Romans 6:1-4
1 What should we say then? Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply?
2 Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
3 Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
4 Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life.
Once you are saved by Jesus and sustained by Jesus, you are a new creation and raised to walk in newness of life. Part of the benefits of this salvation package is that your old self is put to death and you stop living in sin. One of the biggest problems in our community and country is that people believe they are saved but they base that on what they have done. Y’all, if the basis of our salvation and security is in my action, I’m in trouble. What we see in Scripture is that because of Jesus’ work on Calvary we have spiritual security, not social security. We don’t have a license to sit and collect a check. We’re saved to serve. We’re sustained to celebrate. The minute that we buy into the lie that says that our salvation is self-achieved or that this salvation doesn’t cary with it present action, then we’re in the wrong. Look at what Paul shares this salvation and security should result in: Prayer, Encouragement, and Growth. These are present and ongoing realities.
Paul asks this church to pray for “us” who is the us? Likely himself and his associates who helped plant this church and who pray for them daily
2 We always thank God for all of you, making mention of you constantly in our prayers.
They thank God for this church. Therefore, Paul asks them to pray for them. Isn’t it a blessing to have people who pray for you and who actually pray for you when they say that they’re going to pray for you? In the midst of persecution and opposition, Paul needed people to be in prayer for him and we need the same today. You never know what someone is dealing with in life and we, as a faith family, must be lifting one another up in prayer because as see in the book of Acts, a praying church is a dangerous church! We have eternal security, and we must utilize prayer with our heavenly Father.
Next we are to encourage one another. Because we are saved and a new creation in Christ, we see that we are brought into a forever family.
27 For those of you who were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ.
28 There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; since you are all one in Christ Jesus.
29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise.
This is great news! We belong to Christ. We are Abraham’s seed. Heirs of this glorious promise. We are in Christ. We encourage one another and part of encouraging one another means that we get along with one another. This doesn’t mean that you always think the same as someone else, but you get along. You are grateful for that person. You are excited to see that person. You encourage them and they encourage you. This morning was an encouraging time of worship for me and I trust that it was for you as well! Baptism, incredible songs, and seeing God’s faithfulness in Daniel 1. Your presence each Sunday is an encouragement to me. Your singing is an encouragement to David and your neighbors around you. We encourage one another and we see Paul share that they are to greet one another with a holy kiss. These folks weren’t germaphobes, were they?! These people also weren’t late to service, sitting in the back, and the first ones to leave either. Sadly there is a temptation for church to devolve into a legalistic motion where we slap on a smile for an hour, go through the motions, shake some hands, and leave before anyone asks anything too personal. This isn’t what Paul has in mind for this church. He sees a church that encourages one another and is genuinely happy to see one another. Now, we won’t do the holy kiss thing because of cultural context, but we should be happy to see one another. We should be excited to worship together each Sunday as we worship our risen Savior. There should be a closeness in our body!
Third, we should grow. This letter is to be read and the people are to grow.
14 How, then, can they call on him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about him? And how can they hear without a preacher?
It is vitally important for us to share what the Bible says with others. Paul has urgency as he shares this final command with them. This command carries with it a stern warning as Paul charges them by the Lord to do this. How would they go about this? Many of Paul’s letters were circular letters. While a letter was written for a specific church in a specific region, the local church shared the letter with others and in some instances, they made some copies. If they didn’t have a copy, though, they would be forced to simply read the letter aloud. Paul wants other Christians to grow as a result of God’s Word. He wants them to be more like Christ. He wants them to not become calloused or lazy in their walk. He wants them to share the good news. He wants them to be informed of Jesus’ second coming. As a result, he wants people to grow and for others to learn.
We should desire that people at FBC Salem to grow in their understanding of Scripture. We should desire to see lost people come to know Christ as Lord and Savior. We should desire that the Bible is taught and preached and that the songs that are sung honor Christ for what He has done! A healthy church is a growing church. We must not think that we’ve ever arrived at the point that we no longer need to grow. There is always room to grow to be more like Christ and there is always more that we can do to fulfill Acts 1:8 and Matthew 28:18-20.
At the conclusion of Paul’s letters, he often has an epistolary conclusion in which he doesn’t simply wish a farewell, instead he prays that they would have the grace of Jesus Christ with them - this is what we find in Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Colossians, and here in 1 Thessalonians as well.
Conclusion
Conclusion
When you are saved, you are saved. We can think of it like this, Once justified, always justified. Look at this promise in John 6:37
37 Everyone the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never cast out.
Everyone given will come, and all who come will never be cast out. If you are saved it is because Jesus has saved you. He has called you. He has changed you. He will never leave you. Once you are born again, you can’t be unborn. This is the truth of eternal security… But this carries with it obligations. Your life is no longer about yourself. Your life is about something that God began and God will continue to do through you for His glory and your good. That work might not always feel good, but it is always for your good. Our call to action tonight and every day of our lives is to grow in our walk with the Lord. To die to self, pick up our cross, and follow our Christ. As we do this, we can be a thankful people as we realize that we’re almost home.