Like a thief in the night!

1 Thessalonians 5 v 1-3 says: 'now concerning the times and the seasons brother's you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When people are saying there is 'peace and security' then sudden destruction will come upon them as labour pains come upon a pregnant woman and they will not escape.'

It is interesting that Paul deems the second coming of Jesus unnecessary for the church in Thessalonica to hear about but decides to include it anyway. One could conclude, perhaps, that the church of 2000 years ago were much more prepared to act as if each day is possibly the last of their lives than we are currently. It is quite possible, and relatively likely that we are still a fair way off the second coming. After all arn't there still unreached people groups and isn't there still a bit more due to happen concerning Israel. I personally tend to believe that it is the case but I might be wrong. But one thing that is absolutely misguided is to say to oneself that Jesus is a long time coming therefore I shall let my standards slip. For Matthew 24 says a great deal on the subject not least about the unfaithful master who starts to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards. It speaks of such a man that Jesus will come at an hour that he doesn't expect and will cast him out with the hypocrites where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

It is therefore probably safest to live each day as if it is our last. If we wake up tomorrow morning and it is still 'business as usual' then we have lost nothing. If, however, we wake up to find that we are with Jesus then it would be wonderful to have no significant regrets. For as 2 Peter 3 v 9 says 'the Lord is not slow concerning his promise as some count slow but is patient with you desiring that all should come to repentence'. But there comes a time when even God, rich in mercy as he is, decides that the time has come and that enough is enough. It would also be wonderful to say with the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 4 v 7 that we 'have fought the good fight, have run the race and have kept the faith'.

To be able to hear the Lord say to us on that day 'well done my good and faithful servant' will more than make ammends for the injustices of this current age.

Rejoice in the Lord always.

There is a word that appears 11 times in Paul's letter to the Christians/Saints in Phillipi - the word s rejoice.

Indeed the verse which appears to most typify this mindset is from verse 4 of chapter 4 'Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice' It is worth doing this the in context in which it is placed. In Paul's case, on this occasion he is in prison. One can almost certainly assume that the overcrowding would well exceed that of today, as would the stench. It appears to be something of a pattern that Paul and his partners in the gospel were sent to Prison as a result of sharing the gospel.

Another example of rejoicing in the most unpleasant of circumstances is from Acts 16 v 39 where Paul and Silas sang praises to God even though they were in the inner part of the prison with their feet in the stocks - no wonder people had some degree of trepidation re. the early church! What eventually transpired from this was that their was a massive earthquake and the thick, bolted prison doors swung open. All the other prisoners remained where they except Paul and Silas who spoke to the prison guard who was about to take his life - offering reassurance.

The next step was an Evangelists dream, the jailer after going down on his knees before Paul and Silas asked them 'what must I do to be saved?' Paul's response was equally direct 'believe on the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved, you and your whole household'- the jailor's baptism came within a few hours.

One final scripture on the theme of rejoicing in adversity is from 1 Thessalonians 5 v 18 where it says 'in all things give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.'

counting it all joy.

'Count it all joy my brothers when you go through trials of various kinds for you know that the testing of your Faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full work that you may be perfect and complete lacking in nothing'.

By any comparison the book of James goes contrary to normal human understanding. For example, it begins by comparing the trials that we go through in life with joy. To our modern ears this appears to be insensitive and uncaring. Perhaps, you might conclude, James simply doesn't understand what I am going through.

But one valuable aspect of the scriptures is that it looks to the end product of any suffering we might go through and not just the experience itself. After all, the centrepiece of the Christian Faith is the crucifixion where Christ suffered extreme physical agony, untold emotional humiliation, (one modern chorus brings out the point that he suffered at the hands of those he had created), and, perhaps the greatest torment of the whole trial, separation from the Father which prompted the words 'my god, my god, why have you forsaken me?' But had this not happened we would all be 'children of wrath' for as it says elsewhere in scripture 'without the blood there is no remission for sins'. One encouraging scripture is Romans 8 v 28 'And we know for those that love God all things work together for good.' In other words in the Christian life there is no such thing as wasted suffering. For in common with the plant kingdom we need both sunshine and flowers to grow. So, in a nutshell, the opening comment of James is an encouraging one to look beyond immediate feelings and effects of our experience to its ultimate purpose in his unfolding plan which as always is for our blessing and his glory'!

Abundant Life

'The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it more abundantly' John 10 v 10. There are many terms to describe the devil in the scriptures. Among them are 'the father of lies' and 'the accuser of the brethren'. It is clear from the scriptures that 'We are more than conquerers, through him who loved us' Romans 8 v 37. But the evil one would love to keep the body of Christ from believing this. For this reason he stops (or tries to stop us from being effective). If he can turn brother against brother, sister against sister, sister against brother and brother against sister he will try to do this. Sickness in the body of Christ is one method that he uses. We can be sure that Jesus is Satan's main adversary but failing that any believer who poses a threat to his kingdom is a target. Although we can be sure that 'all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purposes' (Romans 8 v 28).

But just as what seemed to be the ultimate place of defeat for Jesus was, in fact, his ultimate place of victory so whatever he tries to do to the body of Christ whether through sickness or division or some other mode of attack will ultimately be turned around for our blessing and his glory.

Cast the net out one more time! John 21 v 1-8

It is not the greatness of our faith it is our faith in a great God. It is not in our own name that we find miracles it is in the name of Jesus. There is a saying that a journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step. If we make that first step towards God he will make 100 towards us. For it says 'Give and it will be given to you in good measure pressed down, shaken together and running over'. God is no mans debtor. Luke 6 v 38,.

.......and finally

Finally is a word very suggestive that much has gone before. The ITV newsreader Trevor McDonald would very often say this prior to sharing the last item on News at Ten and it tended to be a matter of light relief after much bad, disturbing news. When we read the word 'finally' in the same place in three different translations of scripture and when a fourth uses the words 'to conclude'. We can be almost certain that the writer assumes that we have read all that comes before. So often we can take scriptures or pieces of scripture in isolation which can be a very dangerous thing to do. But many people do exactly this and it can so easily lead to imbalance and a skewed understanding. It would be very strange if somebody looked at a letter that they received through the post and only read the last paragraph so why should we accord the letters of St. Paul with any less respect

The piece that I am referring to in this instance is chapter 6 of Paul's letter to the church in Ephesus. The verses from 10 -19 are very important but equally so are all that comes before it. Today I will just focus on the sixth chapter of the letter. Immediately before the ten verses on spiritual warfare are four verses about the relations between parents and children and four further on the attitudes of slaves and masters to each other. Verses 1-3 of the chapter repeat the commandment for a child to obey his Father and Mother and points out that this particular precept has a promise attached to it - that it might go well with you and you will live a long life on the earth. To create a sense of balance verse 4 asks Father's not to provoke their children to exasperation - the amplified translation brings out the importance of tenderness as they train and discipline their children towards Godly living.

Verses 5-8 asks Slaves to obey their masters in a manner that is respectful and worthy and points out that this is also important when their back is turned because when we obey Godly authorities we are doing it unto the Lord whose back is never turned. In common verses 5-9 end with an instruction to the overseer to likewise go about their way with respect pointing out that God is the ultimate mediator and master.

Once these points are made and established (and we can almost imagine Paul taking a breather here) we are then able to tackle the issue of defeating the devil. To be in a place of spiritual victory we need first to be submitted to our God and Saviour. For it is only in Jesus that we have authority and if we do not have respect for earthly authorities that God has put in place then we cannot properly respect God's authority either. Indeed the scripture James 4 v7 'resist the devil and he will flee from you' should never be looked at in isolation from the preceding verse 'submit to God'. For it is only in the name of Jesus that we have any authority. Interestingly these verses are preceded by the words 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble' It is far better to humble ourselves than for God to have to humble us and it is far more pleasant too.

Living Sacrifices

'I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies, a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mindthat ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God'. (Romans 12 v 1-2 KJV)

Todays scripture might at first seem at odds with the theme of Unconditional Love for it is presenting challenges to the reader. Surely, God does as it says in the book of James in that he 'gives generously and without reproach.' The problem is that the key to so much of recieving from him depends on our obedience. Lack of this does not prevent him from loving us but it does prevent us from receiving the love. I like the King James translation where it says that being living sacrifices is our reasonable service. It's not a few elite people that are called to this - we all are.

In addition it is the only way that we can truly find out his will for our lives. God loves to bless but he can't give to us if our hands are clasped tightly shut. If God calls us to sacrificial obedience he only does so because he knows that we are capable.

Focusing on the unseen

'Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal.'

2 Corinthians 4 v 16-20

This scripture came to me by way of revelation just before Christmas. It certainly provided comfort for me at the time and spoke to a number of others. Certainly, if anybody is qualified to comment about the transitory nature of suffering then Paul is having been through persecution of a very intense variety. It also provides a robust alternative to the current immediacy of our current life and expectations. It is true as the 'here and now' is important to us then it is important to God too but what stands for eternity - the invisible kingdom of God is what matters most.

For as Paul says elsewhere 'if our hope is in this life only we are men most miserable'.