There is a great war that has been declared upon a natural process, a process that is seen in almost every aspect of life. The war that has been declared can be both righteous and vain; it has desires that are both constructive and deceptive. The great war that I speak of is the war we wage against corrosion. Almost everything is subject to corrosion. Wood is subject to decay, as are metal, stone and flesh. Appearances are subject to decay and it is here that our war becomes an exercise in vanity. Morals, values and even faith are subject to decay; our war is an act of righteousness in this area. The corrosion of our values regarding the traditional view of marriage, which in part is a political pawn and in part is the reaction of a post modern world rejecting anything that was as bad, startles us with an awareness of the extent to which decay can go. When you think about it, we have been fighting the corrosion of sin in one form or another since the Garden of Eden.
When I was a kid growing up in the 1950's I remember a car that Ford developed called the Rambler. One of the distinct properties of the Rambler was that they showed how they repeatedly dipped the entire body of the car into a great vat of . . .
There is a great war that has been declared upon a natural process, a process that is seen in almost every aspect of life. The war that has been declared can be both righteous and vain; it has desires that are both constructive and deceptive. The great war that I speak of is the war we wage against corrosion. Almost everything is subject to corrosion. Wood is subject to decay, as are metal, stone and flesh. Appearances are subject to decay and it is here that our war becomes an exercise in vanity. Morals, values and even faith are subject to decay; our war is an act of righteousness in this area. The corrosion of our values regarding the traditional view of marriage, which in part is a political pawn and in part is the reaction of a post modern world rejecting anything that was as bad, startles us with an awareness of the extent to which decay can go. When you think about it, we have been fighting the corrosion of sin in one form or another since the Garden of Eden.
When I was a kid growing up in the 1950's I remember a car that Ford developed called the Rambler. One of the distinct properties of the Rambler was that they showed how they repeatedly dipped the entire body of the car into a great vat of a rust preventative solution. It was a process similar to ?galvanizing?, and it was done to prevent corrosion. The amazing truth that I want to expose you to and remind you of, this morning, is that God has done and is doing a work in mankind that defeats the corrosive effects of sin. The reason that He does so is not just to improve your quality of life, His primary reason is that you would be ready to go into that which you were ultimately designed for. What is that? I'm glad you asked, turn with me to 1 Thessalonians 3 verses 9 to 13.
I. Faith Which is Developed Leads to Love Which Establishes Holiness.
This statement is the essence of what Paul has just written in these verses. It seems to be too simple, it seems to contradict what we know about our positional holiness in Christ, yet when you look at it that is what he is saying: ?We want to come to you to complete what was is lacking in your faith that God would cause you to increase in love for all so that your hearts would be established in holiness.? What is faith, how does it cause love, why is love essential for holiness?
Faith ? Faith is built of three things that constantly challenge each other: Knowledge; Obedience; Communion. You need to have some awareness of Who God is, a knowledge that starts by the world you see all about you, a work of the Creator to speak to the creature. The knowledge of these things prepares you to receive the knowledge of the gospel: sin, Satan, salvation and the Savior. Knowledge demands a response, God gives you the knowledge that you have sinned because you have a sin nature. What's your response? Do you agree, do you trust Him, do you repent? Knowledge and a belief in that knowledge as truth is but the first step of faith. Obedience is the step that moves out upon the promise, leading to the experience of faith. But even here it doesn't stop, for experience is not an end in itself. God desires that we know Him, knowing His presence, that He is there right beside you as your heavenly Father, a closeness of proximity and intimacy. Look at the closeness to God that Paul refers to in verse 9 and 11. This is the faith that in various measure was lacking in the Thessalonians, some gaps of knowledge, some struggle of obedience, some ignorance of His presence.
Love ? how does faith cause love? Perhaps the better way to look at this is to ask what prevents love? It's these very things that faith seeks to defeat, and in the defeat of such, love grows. Perhaps you struggle to love others because of your fears of how others think of you. Such fear leads to anxiety and bitterness, doubts of all sorts. Faith speaks to your heart with the knowledge that you have been made in the image of God, that Christ loves you and listens carefully to your concerns, taking them to the Father on your behalf. Faith believes in forgiveness and stands in Christ's righteousness. Faith quells fear as you step forward in trust and offer relationship, knowing He is right there with you in the Person of the Holy Spirit. Love, perfect love, casts out fear. That's how the process looks but don't miss the way that Paul phrases this: 'may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for each other and for all men, just as we also do for you?. Did you see the response of Paul in those first couple of verses: rejoicing before God for them; night and day praying for them, earnestly seeking to be with them? does this strike you as a little on the extreme side. This is a sovereign act of God in them causing them to overflow in love. It is in essence God loving others through them. It's how evangelism, church planting and discipleship work, the love of God pouring out through you. Don't miss that phrasing, 'may the Lord cause you to??
Holiness ? an attitude of heart that both fears the Lord and savors it's legal exemption from the wrath of God. The legal exemption is act where our sin was imputed to Christ, His righteousness imputed to us and we were proclaimed justified. That's a legal or judicial transaction done before the throne of God. My heart needs to both be in a fear of the Lord that I do not presume upon this and yet savor it as a completed action at the same time. This is holiness and it arises out of love, God's love moving through me. Again note the action, 'so that He may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness?. Who does this work in you? the Lord Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. He is the One who calls you to deny yourself and walk in holiness because of a love that is built on faith.
II. Holiness Is All About Getting Prepared To Stand Before Christ.
One of the weakest areas of the Thessalonian church's faith was in their understanding of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. At least seven times Paul refers to it in this letter. He is teaching these people that they need to be open to the working of the Lord in their hearts so that when Christ comes again they will be prepared for what is to happen. He's teaching them to be expectant, to live their lives in a state of readiness. 2 Corinthians 5:10 says, ?For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad.?
Every time you seek to refuse sin, every time you deny yourself, every time you love others well in the name of Jesus, is an act that seeks to honor and glorify God. We call this sanctification, setting yourself apart from the world, it is the pursuit of holiness and it is another step of preparing yourself to stand before Christ in that day. To this truth is added the amazing fact that God doesn't just leave you on your own to figure this out and have the will power to do it. ?For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.?- Philippians 2:13. Not only does He save you by the gift of faith, He develops that faith into works of love which accomplishes the holiness He seeks to reward as that which truly represents and glorifies Him. Such is the work of God in galvanizing the saints of a fallen world.
Rev. Spence Laycock pastors at Church of the Open Bible, Ponoka, Alberta, Canada.
www.churchoftheopenbible.ab.ca