Living A Life Conscious of Christ’s Return
By Senior Pastor Prince Guneratnam
We are exhorted in John 9:4 to ‘WORK WHILE IT IS DAY’. To be
an effective worker, one needs to live right. We have a heavy responsibility to
be a testimony to unbelievers through our lifestyle. 1 Thessalonians
The whole of 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 deals with the hope
of Jesus’ Second Coming – how we must live in the light of His coming. Paul
describes three distinctive walks of a Christian: the walk of HOLINESS, the
walk of LOVE and the walk o AMBITION.
Paul uses the word ‘WALK’ to illustrate the Christian life
because of several reasons:
·
Walking
suggest progress – as believers we must be progressive, we must leave
behind our yesterdays and move on to a new level of faith. Hebrews 6:1 says,
‘Let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity…’
·
Walking
suggests strength – we can observe this by looking at a child who is
learning to walk. He has to have strength to and before he can walk. Walking
also needs determination.
The child may stumble and fall but
he has to get up again and again so that he can learn to walk. We will not
faint when walking, if we walk in His strength (Isaiah 40:31).
·
Walking
suggests a destination – we are walking with Jesus and Jesus is someone who
did not walk aimlessly. He always had a destination. Enoch walked with God for
three hundred years and he walked straight into the presence of God (Genesis
·
Walking
also suggests danger – walking can be dangerous because we have an enemy
who seeks to destroy us. 1 John 1:5 tells us there is darkness out there is darkness
out there. A Christian walk is not always free from danger. We have to be alert
while walking – there may be traps. The enemy plans for our fall and we must be
wary of his schemes.
THE WALK OF HOLINESS
(v3)
‘It is God’s will that you should be holy.’
Paul gave us three reasons why we must live a holy life.
Firstly, by leading holy lives we please God (v1). Everybody lives to please
somebody but many live to please themselves. Romans 15:1-4 tells us that,
‘We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the
weak and not to please ourselves… for even Christ did not please Himself…’
The Bible warns use about living to pleasure ourselves. We
are called to please God above everyone else. Pleasing God should be the
supreme motive of every believer.
Jesus was an example of a life that was pleasing to God. God
declared this in Matthew
Hebrews 11:5 has this to say about Enoch. ‘Enoch was commanded
as one who pleased God.’
Pleasing God is more than just doing the will of God. Jonah
obeyed God but his heart was no in it and therefore failed to please God (Jonah
4). It is possible to do what God wants us to do without our doing it to please
Him. This is contrary to Ephesians 6:6 where we are encouraged to do the will
of God from our heart.
‘Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on
you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.’
Secondly, we are to obey the instructions of God (v.2). The
commands from God are militant. Soldiers do not question instructions given to
them. 2 Timothy 2:4 says ‘No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civil
affairs, he wants to please his commanding officers.’ We are all soldiers of
God. When we receive a command, we are expected to obey without question. As soldiers,
we do not live like civilians. God has commanded us to live holy lives and so
we must obey Him.
Thirdly, by leading holy lives we glorify God (v4 & 5). We
are instructed to ‘control our body in a way that is holy and honorable.’ Our body
is like an earthen vessel and within it is the preciousness of God. God has put
His life within us so while this earthly vessel appears significant, it becomes
powerful under the influence of God. ‘But we have this treasure in jars of clay
to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us (2
Corinthians 4:7). If we glorify God in our bodies, then we can glorify Him in
the Body, which is the Church.
THE WALK OF LOVE (v9-10)
‘Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you,
for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you
do love all the brothers through
The walk of holiness leads to a walk of love. It is not
implied that the Thessalonians were not walking in brotherly love, but Paul is
reminding the people to continue to walk in love and to do even more (v 10). Romans
5:5 tells us that the Holy Spirit gives us God’s love. That is why we can love
one another. If we are born again, we can experience God’s love and in the same
way we can share God’s love with others.
THE WALK OF AMBITION
(v11-12)
“Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your
own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your
daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so you will not be dependant on
anybody.’
It seems contradictory to be ambitious and lead a quiet
life. The emphasis here is the inner life. Paul exhorts us to work hard but to
ensure our mind and heart are at peace. To be ambitious is to have a dream or a
vision from the Lord. The Bible says, “… your young men will see visions, your
old men will dream dreams” (Acts 2”17). They are not vain imaginations – God
wants to fulfill them in our life but it is to be done with your mind and heart
at peace. This is a life free from anxiety and from “burn-out.”
We are also told to “mind our own business” and concentrate
on what God has for us to do. Most of our problems arise in this area. This is
good advice and it will keep us from trouble.
If we are born-again and truly believe in the Second Coming
of Christ, let us seek God earnestly for His vision for our life personally and
as a Christian to see the salvation of the lost. Then let us determine to obey the Lord’s
vision which the Bible declares to all of us in John 4:35 – “Do not say, four
months more and then the harvest? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the
fields! They are ripe for harvest.”
Let us ‘WORK WHILE IT IS DAY.’ I know the Lord will not fail you!
Issue 19, January – February 1993