2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.
Ah Friends, in these crazy, tumultuous times, we surely need all the encouragement and reassurance we can get, including that offered by Bruh Paul to the Thessalonians. After the powerful Jews had run Bruh Paul out of town cause he was encroaching on their turf, poaching their members, the young church in Thessalonica began having problems, for lack of strong, faithful leadership. Strife and divisiveness, sloth and laziness crept in, over basic doctrine and other related matters of faith. To try and quell their fears and doubts, Bruh Paul assures them that he’s obliged to give thanks for them, because from the very beginning, they had been chosen by God to be saved. ‘Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ (vs.14) As he argues in Romans 10, people can only be saved if they hear the word, and they can’t hear it if someone doesn’t go and preach it to them. He’d been led by the Holy Spirit to preach the gospel to them. ‘Therefore, brethren stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.’ (vs.15) He’s encouraging them to be strong in their new faith in Christ. Like he said to the Corinthians: ‘Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. Let all your things be done with charity.’ (1 Cor.16:13-14) Friends, today we badly need that advice too. We’ve also got to be strong and uphold the godly traditions we’ve been taught, whether it’s by word of mouth, or by reading the Good Book. It’s imperative that we also keep on associating and worshipping with fellow believers, so that the word will continually be circling around us, helping to keep us focused. If we don’t do that Friends, we’ll fall easy prey to the enemy with all his rather tempting, lustrous looking but empty baubles of this world. Only the armour of righteousness, found in the word, will enable us to resist those tasty, tempting temptations. The Christian walk has never been easy. Just look at the first Christian, Jesus, and you’ll see all the difficulties he encountered, even though He was the Son of God. And it’s probably going to get more difficult too, with sin and ungodliness currently on the upswing. People, that means we’ve got to raise our faith to a higher level, just to keep marking time. Like we also have to earn more money because of escalating prices, just to maintain our standard of living. If we don’t increase our spiritual resources we’ll be overrun by the enemy. But I know we won’t allow that to happen, because we believe in the power of Jesus Christ, our Saviour. However, for that faith, that strong belief, to make a difference, we’ve got to walk it, put it into action, which I’m asking us to start fervently doing, right now. And with the blessing and assurance of Bruh Paul; ‘May our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, comfort and encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.’ Till we meet again; Much LOVE!…remember…with Jesus in command…all things are possible…
Ah Friends, in these crazy, tumultuous times, we surely need all the encouragement and reassurance we can get, including that offered by Bruh Paul to the Thessalonians. After the powerful Jews had run Bruh Paul out of town cause he was encroaching on their turf, poaching their members, the young church in Thessalonica began having problems, for lack of strong, faithful leadership. Strife and divisiveness, sloth and laziness crept in, over basic doctrine and other related matters of faith. To try and quell their fears and doubts, Bruh Paul assures them that he’s obliged to give thanks for them, because from the very beginning, they had been chosen by God to be saved. ‘Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ (vs.14) As he argues in Romans 10, people can only be saved if they hear the word, and they can’t hear it if someone doesn’t go and preach it to them. He’d been led by the Holy Spirit to preach the gospel to them. ‘Therefore, brethren stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.’ (vs.15) He’s encouraging them to be strong in their new faith in Christ. Like he said to the Corinthians: ‘Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. Let all your things be done with charity.’ (1 Cor.16:13-14) Friends, today we badly need that advice too. We’ve also got to be strong and uphold the godly traditions we’ve been taught, whether it’s by word of mouth, or by reading the Good Book. It’s imperative that we also keep on associating and worshipping with fellow believers, so that the word will continually be circling around us, helping to keep us focused. If we don’t do that Friends, we’ll fall easy prey to the enemy with all his rather tempting, lustrous looking but empty baubles of this world. Only the armour of righteousness, found in the word, will enable us to resist those tasty, tempting temptations. The Christian walk has never been easy. Just look at the first Christian, Jesus, and you’ll see all the difficulties he encountered, even though He was the Son of God. And it’s probably going to get more difficult too, with sin and ungodliness currently on the upswing. People, that means we’ve got to raise our faith to a higher level, just to keep marking time. Like we also have to earn more money because of escalating prices, just to maintain our standard of living. If we don’t increase our spiritual resources we’ll be overrun by the enemy. But I know we won’t allow that to happen, because we believe in the power of Jesus Christ, our Saviour. However, for that faith, that strong belief, to make a difference, we’ve got to walk it, put it into action, which I’m asking us to start fervently doing, right now. And with the blessing and assurance of Bruh Paul; ‘May our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, comfort and encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.’ Till we meet again; Much LOVE!…remember…with Jesus in command…all things are possible…
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