“A Saint Who Loves Jesus” (1 Thessalonians )

1 Thessalonians “A Saint Who Loves Jesus”

 

In the present age it seems like a period of Christian victory, since there are so many Christians, so many churches, so many denominations and so many pastors.  It is also an age of many heresies which interpret the Bible wrongly and are rising like poison mushrooms here and there.  In such an ambiguous time, if our Lord comes back, then what kind of saints would be recognized and be loved by God.  Therefore today we will think about this subject.  May the grace of God fill your hearts.  Saints need to attend church and receive love from God.

 

In order to do this,
first we must have a faith grounded in Jesus Christ.  1 Corinthians 10:4 says, “And all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.”  It says we must drink the spiritual drink from the Rock.  The spiritual drink, spiritually speaking, is the Bible, which is the word of God.  For example, our life is like that of a stranger who is passing through the wild wilderness.  In our rugged road of life, sometimes we are tired and thirsty, then we look for water.  Drinking water is needed to live and gain strength.  However, no matter how much water there is in the world there is water that we can drink and water that we can not drink.  Sea water or polluted water must not be drunk.  If a person drinks this water, the more he drinks the more he gets thirsty and it could cause him to finally die because of the bacteria.  Therefore we must drink clean water, further more, clean living water from the Rock.  What is the living water from the Rock?  Spiritually speaking the Rock is Jesus Christ. 

The living water from the Rock is the word from Jesus Christ.  John 7:37-38 says, “On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.  "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."””  Today, we saints can live by “drinking,” which is reading the word of Jesus Christ, Who is the living water.  In this manner we gain strength and are able to help others who feel thirsty and help them to meet Jesus Christ, Who is the living water.  In order to do this our faith must be grounded upon Jesus Christ and the word of Christ will work in our hearts.  Remember!  There are no other teachings or funny stories that will give us life in our souls.  Listening to the words which tickle our ears and drinking them in only makes us more thirsty.  Beloved saints!  Do not be deceived.  Such a soft and seductive language would not give life to our spirit and make us new.  I believe that only the living word of God, which is a spiritual rock, makes us new and revives our lives; I believe we must put our faith in Jesus Christ and live in the His word.

 

Secondly, we must become believers full of faith.  We saints are the ones who live by faith.  We live by believing in Jesus Christ.  Through faith we gain salvation and through faith we do the work of the Lord.  Therefore, today’s text says in verse 3A, “Your work of faith.”  Man often thinks this way: people go to church for moral training, by listening to good words they become good people, and are able to change bad emotions to good emotions.  Therefore some people call religion a change of emotions.  I don’t know about other religions that have emotional changes; however Christianity’s goal is not that of changing emotions.  Christianity is a belief, believing in a living God and living Lord.  It is our belief, that in Christianity, we follow Jesus Christ, with a faith which is truthful and tangible.  So we can say that our faith has united our lives with the living life of Jesus, as one.  “But the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.”  (Hebrews 4:2B)  For example, let’s take a look at electricity.  We can not see the flow of electricity from the plus (+) to the minus (-) side in flowing electricity, but when they unite the power moves and we are able to turn on the light and move big things with the power and we can certainly see the light with our eyes.  Likewise, even though the living God and Jesus Christ are here, we can not see Them with our physical eyes.  However when the faith in our hearts unites with the living Holy Spirit of God, Who is unseen, the great power comes and makes great work.  This is called the work of faith in the Bible.  Faith is not an abstract or vague concept.  Faith must be truthful and tangible in our lives.  We can see a person who has truthful and tangible faith.  One is jElijah: Elijah brought down fire from heaven by prayer in faith and pulled down the rain from heaven by tangible prayer in faith, even after one drop of rain had not even been see for three and a half years. 

This is the power and the work of faith.  kSamson: He killed a thousand Philistine soldiers who were armed with swords and spears with a jawbone of a dead donkey.  This is the work of faith that trusts in God.  lWe see David: David killed the giant Goliath with one stone from a slingshot and took his sword and drew it out of the sheath and cut off his head.  This is a work of faith.  Beloved saints!  Don’t we have a Goliath who tears up our lives in front of us?  Don’t we have the wicked plays of Satan, who gives us trouble and brakes up our homes and businesses and lives of faith?  At this time, we now need the work of faith.  Jeremiah 32:27 says, “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh.  Is there anything too hard for Me?”  (Genesis 18:14)  Isaiah 48:13 also says, “Indeed My hand has laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand has stretched out the heavens; when I call to them, they stand up together.”  When things need to be done, it is not by knowledge or high position, but it is God, Who works through the faithful person.

 

Thirdly, we must be people who live in God’s love.  It seems easy for a young man and young woman to meet and fall in love.  However, in order to complete and make a sweet home it requires effort between them.  As human love requires work from each other, likewise the love which Jesus gave us also needs effort.  Therefore, today’s text says, “Labor of love.” (Verse 3)  John 13:34 says, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”  I believe we too follow the example of the labor of love that Jesus carried on the cross to love us; we are to love others even though it is hard and causes us labor.  In Greek the word love is classified as:

jEros (ερως érōs): couple’s love between different sexes

k Philia (φιλία philia): brotherly love, parental love

lStorge (στοργή storgē): friendly love

m Philanthropy: love for people

n\Agape (αγάπη agápē): God’s love, Jesus’ love

In among so many different meanings of love, the word for love in today’s Bible text is agape.  Saints need to love, which means to love God as in agape and to do this requires labor.  Love in the Bible is seen as this, “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”  (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)  If a man speaks with the tongues of angels, but doesn’t have love, then he becomes as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal and though he has all faith, but has not love, he is nothing.  And though he bestows all his goods to feed the poor, and though he gives his body to be burned, but has not love, it profits him nothing.  (1 Corinthian 13:1-3)  A man named Palmer said, “Church becomes a church, not by a sign, merit, or numbers, but only by love.”  I love Jesus, I have no hatefulness or enemies because I believe and follow the fact that Jesus labored for me and there is no one that is unlovable.  I believe, from now on we must labor to practice giving God’s love in our church and out on our road of life, which is the training center of love.

By: Samuel Choi