More than a wishlist
Matthew 6:11-13

This second part of the Lord’s Prayer is generally explained as the “our needs” section of the prayer. Stating it this way evokes the idea that we’ve buttered God up with the right words at the beginning of our prayer - “Your Name, Your kingdom, Your will…” - and now we get to my stuff. That is a deficient way of considering Jesus’ model prayer for His disciples. One completely misses the point by making a division between verses 10 and 11… there is no subject change! Praying for daily bread, personal forgiveness and future temptation is the natural direction of “Thy kingdom come and Thy will be done.” Where does this need to take place? Exactly where verses 11-13 take us.

His perspective on… (11-13)
As we move into the three petitions Jesus makes, we need to first consider the perspectives that are offered. His first petition deals with the here and now… our daily bread. What we need today. The second petition deals with our past - forgiveness for tresspasses. The third petition - which we will look at next week - deals with our future. Not our distant future, but what comes next… leading us away from temptation.

His perspective on today: bodily provision (11)
This is wide term… far wider than ‘bread’ would lead us to believe. The term encompasses all of life’s basic needs. Some interpret it to include the roof over your head, good health, work and security. Jesus is petitioning for the basic human needs. A reference to God’s care of His people in the desert seems appropriate - he gave them manna, sources of water and shoes that didn’t wear out. We serve a God who takes care of the needs. You must not forget Jesus’ initial statement before this model prayer about God’s sovereign knowledge of what man requires.
This petition might sound strange in our ears, since we live in such wealth. Isn’t this a petition that poor people pray? That misses the point of where this petition takes us. This is not the cry of the starving, but the honest recognition of dependence.
Everything that we have comes from God (Gen. 1:29-31) and David acknowledges this in His kingly prayer in 1 Chronicles 29:10ff.
Do you express your gratitude to God for all that He has provided for your daily survival and comfort? Do you consider that your job security, income, nourishment, shelter and health are all provided by the great King - your father?

J. I. Packer said: “The prayer of a Christian is not an attempt to force God’s hand, but it is a humble acknowledgement of helplessness and dependence.”

His perspective on my past: spiritual pardon (12)
The literal meaning of “to forgive” is “to let go of”. When an offense takes place a debt accrues. We owe another person. The judicial meaning then is to let go of my right to exact payment of the debt. In the case of God, His Son pays the debt and settles the account. His righteousness for my filthiness. This is a very personal grace, because our offense is personal - we are not held accountable for Adam’s sin… we have enough of our own!
We are all guilty. Romans 3:23 explains that we have all sinned… we have come short of God’s glory. Literally the word means “missed the mark”... and archery term to have missed the bullseye. Our arrows don’t even make it half-way down the field. The penalty is eternal death (Romans 6:23). The Ten commandments teach us how far we have crossed from the relationship boundaries… we have loved others more than Him, we have served lesser things and devoted too much time to them, we have failed to cherish the relationship with Him above all else. We have angered a jealous God and we understand we need a Savior. That’s what the law does… it brings us to our knees and points us to our need for a Savior.
Romans 5:8… God shows us His love in this: while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. That is mercy. That is grace. That is where our pardon for sin stems. And His sacrifice wipes our slate clean.
What is fascinating is that Jesus expresses this in the model prayer… this is never something that we should “get over”, nor is grace something that we will cease needing. The Christian still sins and continually comes back to the giver of grace and we petition Him to let our trespass go, knowing that He will. Why? He’s my dad.

The principle that follows the petition is not one of making God’s forgiveness dependent on me. Our feeble attempts to do right always fail… that would be bad theology. So what is this teaching us? This is grace leading to a changed life. When all of your tresspasses have been pardoned and your sins removed as far as the east is from the west (Psa. 103:12), you will extend that grace to others in your life. Forgiveness costs us something - we let go of our claim - and when we bear that cost we act like our dad… we follow in His footsteps.
Here’s the thing… holding on to unforgiveness and bitterness and closing your heart to others evidences that something isn’t right… which is the point. If you refuse to forgive - which isn’t the same as finding it hard to forgive - then God’s grace has not been evidenced in your heart (read verses 14-15). This leads to Jesus’ parable in chapter 18.
Lord Herbert said: “He who cannot forgive breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass.”

When we pray “Thy kingdom come and Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” we naturally find contentment in what God - the King, but also my dad - has provided for me and considers necessary for me. I petition Him for my daily needs, acknowledging my dependence on Him and gratitude for what He gives.
Thy will be done also takes care of our past, since He willed for Christ to bear our guilt, so we could be with Him forever - in His Kingdom, which I desire to come.

As God asked.
Matthew 6:9-10

But didn’t you already preach on this? Why yes. Yes, I did. I was struck - in preparing for this sermon - by the fact that there is far too much to be preached in this passage. So I decided to preach two sermons and in this second Sunday I would draw out an aspect that I did not cover two weeks ago.

Introduction - 500 years of Reformation
Protestant Churches everywhere are celebrating the event that kick-started the Reformation today. In January of 1517 Johann Tetzel was officially called to the ministry of selling indulgences for Pope Leo X. He traveled like a pedler through Germany and managed to empty people’s pockets. He who purchased an indulgence was ensured a partial or even complete forgiveness of their Ecclesiastical debt. The indulgence could also be purchased to shorten the length of the stay of a loved one in purgatory.
The reasoning was that Christ had accomplished and endless supply of good works and the saints had more good works than they needed to inherit salvation. These works of Christ and the Saints comprised the “treasury of excess good works”, which was owned by the Church and managed by the Pope. Therefore the pope can write an indulgence check to those who have a deficit of good works. Since 1343 this is still official Church doctrine.
Tetzel traveled with a big box and preached this doctrine with a diddy that went something like: When the coin dings, a soul from purgatory springs. The proceeds went to various Church building projects, but especially the Saint Peter’s basilica in Rome.
A story that is told from this time period is of a nobleman that approached and asked Tetzel if these indulgence checks were sold for sins not yet committed. Tetzel explained the affirmative, upon which the man purchased a check signed by the pope. Then he proceeded to mercilessly beat Johann Tetzel and when he was finished returned the indulgence letter and walked away forgiven.
Eventually Tetzel ended up in the area of Wittenberg. Parishioners that ended up in Martin Luther’s confessional showed little evidence of sorrow for their sins and appealed to their indulgence letter - purchased from Tetzel and signed by the pope. Their guilt had already been paid. Luther was appalled.
This led him to write 95 academic arguments against the sale of indulgences and on October 31, 1517 he nailed his complaint to the door of the castle-Church in Wittenberg. 500 years later the reverberations from Luther’s hammer can still be felt.
The Renaissance brought a change in thinking. People longed for the classical period: the politics and wealth of the great Roman era. Their mantra became: “back to the sources” in seeking to discover what the great thinkers of that era taught. This thinking eventually infiltrated into the thinking of theologians, who returned to the sources - Scripture in the original Greek and Hebrew. Many were becoming carefully critical of practices and teachings in the Roman Catholic Church. Luther was one of these monks.
The greatest heritage of the Reformation was a simple belief, that we adhere to and was well-voiced by Luther: sola Scriptura - the Scripture alone. The statement: “show me in the Bible” is a belief that we hold dear today.
In reading about Luther I came across a letter that he wrote to his barber in Wittenberg - a good friend. He had inquired who one ought to pray and Luther commented on the Lord’s prayer - I would like to share his insights this morning.

Luther was appalled by the mindless rehearsing of the Lord’s prayer without the slightest thinking of what is being prayed. He called it abuse and made the corollary between the first three commandments in Exodus 20 to the introduction of Jesus’ prayer.
Prayer brings us back to God’s beginning with us

The first command implied (9)
The first command to Israel is that they worship only Him. As we have learned in our Bible study on Wednesdaynight, the way in which the ten commandments are written and placed after Exodus 19 (read it - God is protecting His people like a father protects his children) teaches us that God is describing the parameters of a relationship more so than prescribing rules for salvation. God saved His people out of Egypt and then gives this saved people ten commandments. The first three set up the relationship. God longs for an exclusive relationship with His people. Much like a marriage ceremony, God asks to be exclusive in their lives. Love me above everything else - and let me be the only one.

The second command enacted (9a)
The second command regarded their worship, which was to be without icons or idols. They were to worship in spirit. There was no specification of locality in this worship. That was not important… it was to be in spirit - as Jesus explains to the Samaritan woman at the well. You worship without going somewhere or seeing anything. The Lord’s prayer is exactly that - to be done anywhere and at any time, by those to love Him.

The third command in action (9b)
The third command was relational as well: cherish my name. Make it holy in your thinking and speaking. Our relationship with God is not to be treated as trivial. We are not to approach or worship or think of God like the world with its take-it-or-leave-it mentality. Religion is something I do on Sunday… the rest of the week God is out of my mind. Asking the Father’s name to be hallowed is to re-align your heart with who God is and what He means to you. That’s why “Thy kingdom come and Thy will be done” follow from this heart-alignment.
This prayer brings us back to where God wants us to be… it it our delay in this busy world as we wait for God’s direction in life.

Luther said: “How shall God’s Name be hallowed among us? When what we believe and live is truly Christian.” Too often what we believe and live does not align.
Luther stood up to this blasé Christianity. Much like David he was moved by zeal for God’s Name. Grace was at stake with Tetzel. True repentance had been short-circuited. True forgiveness was no longer sought after. And Luther brought us back to Scripture.
Do we have such a zeal?

Prayer, holiness and the God of Peace
1 Thessalonians 5:23-28

This is the last sermon in this series. I have mixed feelings. I have enjoyed preaching through this book and wish I wasn’t leaving it.
Paul draws his final encouragements and exhortations to a close in two magnificent verses (23-24) and then ends the letter where he started: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” Grace has been one important theme in this letter - a letter that he asks be read to all the brothers - and it is where Paul chooses to draw his readers’ attention at the end of this letter. He leaves us amazed at God.
How so? Well, last week’s sermon was heavily invested on my side of things… rejoice - at all times; pray - unceasingly; be grateful - in everything. Why? Because this is God’s will for you. Don’t extinguish the Spirit, don’t despise the prophesies, but test everything and keep what is good. And then the capstone: keep yourself from every form of evil. No tall order… and it seems to all be on me.
Perhaps I left you thinking that… holiness is something I need to accomplish. Not entirely, because now Paul offers a benediction in which he wishes two things from God: that He might make us holy and that we might be kept blameless at Christ’s return. And what He is asking for… that’s what we want to unpack this morning.

The God of Peace 23a
Literally Paul says here: “And may He - the God of peace - Himself…” What a personal God we serve. He involves Himself intimately in the affairs of man. God Himself will make us holy. He does not expect us to make strides in personal struggle and in keeping ourselves from. God does it Himself. But why the God of peace? There have been quite a few that ask this question… why does Paul address God as the God of peace in this context. Personal holiness is not often thought of in the context of peace.
Romans 5:1 gives us a reason perhaps. Through justification by our faith we have peace with God. Justification is a legal term that is akin to acquit. We have been declared righteous through our faith in Jesus Christ and because of this legal ruling we have peace with God. It is through this peace with God that He acts on our behalf, beginning a work in us that He will complete. A work that Paul calls sanctification. It is God’s will that we become holy - and because we are at peace with Him, He can work it in us in such a personal way.

Thorough sanctification 23b
“May God sanctify you through and through.” This pictures a completed sanctification. The word here is a strengthened form of ‘whole’. In some ways it is an exaggerated term - perhaps even hyperbole. Complete is already complete. Today we like to add the word “super” to everything to intensify the verb we are using. But compete is one of those words that already signifies completeness in its definition. And yet, here we have a intensified verb for complete. Really complete… super complete… sanctified super-complete. Paul is asked for a thorough sanctification.

Purpose-driven sanctification 23c
Then Paul introduces three aspects to humanity - spirit, soul, and body - that has spawned voluminous writing on the constitution of mankind. Does man consist of material and immaterial (body and spirit) or of three parts body, soul and spirit. Or is man - as the Jews view man - holistic (a living soul). To argue this misses the point entirely, since Paul is focused on the completeness of man, not to define man’s inner divisions. More dangerous, however, is the idea that man is a trinity, as God is a trinity (created in His image). This is not the case. A body without a spirit or soul is dead - it cannot live without the immaterial parts, which immediately argues against a trinity. Man is created in God’s image in that he was given personality (intellect, emotion and will) and that He is a moral being capable of choosing good or evil.
What Paul is explaining here is that man is completely - all the way through - kept. Paul may be - perhaps - arguing against Greek philosophical dualism. The Greek Philosophers believed that man was body and soul and that the body was evil (earthly) and the soul was divine. The human struggle, then, is to rid oneself of the body and ascend to the heavenly. This spawned the idea that it did not matter what a person did in the body, for it was evil.
When Paul is discussing the complete and thorough sanctification and discussing the preserving of man, he begins with the preservation of the spirit and then includes the two terms that Greek philosophers use: soul and body, to prove the eternal value of the body (look back at chapter 4). The point, however, is that man is completely and entirely preserved blameless.
This impressed the believers in Thessalonica is evidenced by the inscription on some ancient Christian graves in Thessalonica: amemptos… which means “blameless.” What an expression of confidence in the work of God.
Paul requests that the believer might be kept blameless at the Parousia of the Lord (emphasis is Paul’s) Jesus Christ. When He comes, may we be constantly guarded completely blameless.

The God of Faithfulness 24
And then Paul’s capstone: God called you… He is faithful to do it. It echoes Philippians 1:6 - He who began a good work in you will complete it. God is faithful to us to do it… we are commanded to do it… He is going to do it. Now that is an incredible liberty. God calls us to holiness, but He is the One that sanctifies. Live this way… but I’ll do it. This is the grace of God… to call us to something and yet do it Himself. Our’s is more a matter of getting out of the way of the work that God wants to do.

Pray and Greet 25-26
And then Paul asks that the believers will pray in such a way for them as well. No one is above this need and dependency on God. Greet one another… I’m just going to add this in closing… the only way you can greet one another - and ‘with a kiss’ is simply a cultural reference… it doesn’t mean we need to go around kissing each other - the only way you can greet one another is if you are meeting one another. You need to be in Church. The writer of Hebrews warns us: don’t make it a habit to be out of Church (10:25). You need the encouragement and you need the challenge… and you need the prayers of your believers. Be in Church. Stop skipping because it’s inconvenient or hard. The necessary things of life are always hard.

So…
Is holiness your wish?
How thoroughly do you want to be sanctified?
What is het goal of your sanctification?
Who is making you holy?

Day or Night people?
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

What you already know (1-2)
Paul appeals (as he did in chapter 1) to personal knowledge. They already know about certain things. He uses a few phrases that need explanation:
>Times and seasons
These are two terms - the first referring to measurable time like on a calendar or clock and the second referring to seasons or events by which time is marked - that are used in Scripture to refer to God’s final plans for Israel… the end-times events. The disciples ask about the end times in this manner. (Acts 1:7; 17:26)
>The Day of the Lord
This was used by the Old testament Prophets and denotes the day when God will intervene in history to vindicate His chosen people, destroy their enemies, and establish His kingdom. (Isaiah 13:9-11, Joel 2:28-32)
>Thief in the Night
This was an image that Christ used in describing the sudden nature of this judgment. (Matthew 24:42-43)

They didn’t need instruction, because they already knew the theology of what to expect.

What they don’t know (3)
Unbelievers are unaware of God’s plan and will be unprepared for His coming. It will be swift, sudden and vehement. Like a woman going into labor, it overcomes you and it will be excruciating. Judgment is certain.

What you need to know (4-10)
Paul contrasts the life of an unbeliever with that of a believer and challenges the believer to stop living like an unbeliever. Why? Look at verse 10. You are not destined to receive judgment. You are to be saved. So, put on the armor and stop living like you don’t know.

Perspective changes everything.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

The finality of death was a theme commonly discussed bij the Greek philosophers. Some believed that there might be some kind of afterlife, but it wasn’t anything to look forward to. Paul’s teaching on the Coming of the Lord, raised an important question… what about those Christians that died before His Parousia - His coming and presence among us. This question is the backdrop to one of the most comforting passages in Scripture.
Warren Wiersbe - a well-known Bible teacher - organized this passage around five R-words. I will use four of those words for the outline.

Revelation (13-15a)
Paul explains the danger of ignorance. God does not want us to be ignorant. That doesn’t mean He tells us everything, but He does tell us everything we need to know and we ought not to be ignorant of those things He has revealed to us.
Revelation gives us security to face the future and we ought to strive to understand what God has told us.

Resurrection (15-16)
Here is the beauty of what God has revealed to us: death is not final. Christ’s resurrection guarantees our resurrection. In Colossians we learn that our identity is irremovably united with Christ. This is why Paul holds on to the hope that to die is gain… death ushers us into Christ's presence. We will be changed according to 2 Corinthians 5.
The resurrection gives us hope and in fact ensures that we will in no way miss His Parousia. The dead in Christ rise first.

Rapture (17)
Then we who are alive will be caught up to meet Him I'm the air.
Many questions are raised by this text and debated by theologians. Is this the same event as the Day of the Lord or the Second coming? In say no, based on the hope that Jesus left His disciples in John 14. He was going to prepare a place for them, would return for them and then take them there. The clear expectation is to leave this world with Him, not have Him stay with us.
Secondly, when explaining the second coming Christ says in Matthew 24 that His coming will be like the days of Noah… all the ungodly are removed for the earth and the righteous remain. What is described here in 1 Thessalonians 4 is the catching up of the righteous into the clouds - the ungodly remain on Earth. This truth gives us great aniticipation.

Reunion (17-18)
And so shall we always be with Him. Wherever He is, we will be. We are the host dressed in white behind Him when He does come to establish His reign on earth. We will be reunited with our loved ones and we will enjoy being in His presence for all eternity.
This truth brings us great joy.

Paul tells his readers to encourage and strengthen one another with these words! And what an encouragement it is.

What God wants and I often don’t.
1 Thessalonians 4:1-12

Perhaps the number one question among Christians of all ages is: “What does God want from me?” Our text this morning deals with this very issue.

The one thing God wants from you (2-3a)
God wants us to be holy. He said it in and Peter repeats it for the New Testament Church: Be holy, for I am holy. (cf. Leviticus 11:44-45 and 1 Peter 1:13-14) Your sanctification, as it reads in this text. This is a process of becoming more and more holy, rather than a state of being or status attained. The classic definition of holiness is: set apart for God.

The one thing the world wants from you (3b-6)
The world doesn’t want you to be different - it wants you to be just like everyone else. In fact there is the danger that lies in verse 5: acting just like other people that do not know God. When the world examines your life, does it find a person alien to their cultural norms and values or a person living for another life?

God’s call for your life (7-12)
Paul lays holiness and conformity next to each other and ties them to your calling. The word he picks here is enlightening, as it makes reference to their status as “called out ones”, which makes us think of the meaning of Church - ekklesia: the called out ones. We have been called out of this world and into His holiness.
Then he contrasts the sexual boundlessness of the first verses with a proper brother love (phileo), which they are already evidencing. You see, Christ said it: it is by your love for one another that they will recognize you. Brotherly love is something this world does not know.
Paul’s final exhortation brings us to look at our behavior, our speech, and our labor. All three should be under control and exemplary to the world. We ought always to remember the testimony we have before them that are without.

When good plans change.
1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:13

Plans change. Or plans get changed. Does this sound relatable? You were planning a good thing - a God thing - and looking forward to the ministry and blessing that would come. A missions trip, an evangelistic outreach, attending a conference, volunteering at a Christian organisation, ministering to someone’s need… it was some kind of good plan. Then all of your plans were thwarted. How did you respond?
Or maybe not so lofty… you made plans to be a better husband or a happier mommy. You decide to honor your parents. You bought that car, signed for that house, made a family decision to do the “right thing” --whatever that may be. And these good plans were interrupted. A week ago life seemed mapped out, you could connect the dots and God’s will seemed understandable. Until it didn’t. How do you respond?
Before our first date Heather and I had already discussed a myriad of significant issues. For instance: we had already settled that we wanted two or four kids and planned: “we’ll have two and if we like them… we’ll have four.” The reason was logistic… I grew up in a family of five and that always meant someone sat alone in amusement park rides. Hey - I was 19… that’s where my thinking was at. An even number was better - even good. Children are a heritage of the Lord.
We had our first two and we liked them, so we had another. The death-blow came when the surgeon informed us that it would be life-threatening to have another child. Due to complications Heather had all three children cesarean. It seemed as if a child had been taken away. Our good plans had been thwarted. And it was hard to accept as the Lord’s leading.
I am encouraged this morning to share such an episode from Paul’s life. Our text this morning gives us three keys in responding in a way that honors God.

#1 Take a humble step back 2:17-18, 3:10
Paul had a good plan. He wanted to go back to Thessalonica. This was a Church that was near and dear to his heart. Their reception of the gospel was unlike most places. This was his first major advance into Macedonia and he had felt a connection with these believers unlike any other. He had described them in lofty terms and praised them for their initial hearing and persevering. It must have been an incredible evangelistic endeavour. He calls them his joy and crown. Getting back to thessalonica to “complete what is lacking in their faith” was a good plan.
Satan had hindered him.
Wow. Satan had hindered him. The word meant to break up a road and was eventually used in a military sense to break through the enemy defenses. It was also used athletically to cut in front of another runner. The adversary had cut in front of Paul´s plans to stop them.
I learn a lot from Paul’s mentioning of Satan here. In Western Christianity we tend to over-emphasize Satan or under-emphasize Satan. Mostly due to the excesses of Charismatic Evangelicalism we tend to shy away from calling him out. But we have an adversary and he is actively working against the Church. It isn’t wrong to lay blame at his feet.
However, we are never in Scripture told to scold or reprimand Satan - in fact in Jude we are warned that not even the angels do that. And even more than that, we do not see a hint that Paul tries to go ahead with his plan despite Satan’s hindering. Instead he takes a humble second look at his plans.

#2 Look for God’s better plan 3:1-10
Paul’s plan A was to take the entire team of missionaries back to Thessalonica and to minister to them with the goals of (3:10) accomplishing what is lacking in their faith.
His plan B, however, is to send only Timothy to see how they are doing and strengthen their faith.
Paul wanted to go, but never actually did.
Paul humbly accepted that Satan’s hindering was lead of God to re-think his good plan.
You know, had Paul turned around, he would not have had his incredible opportunity to speak on the Areopagus in Athens as he waited for Timothy to return and he would not have met Aquila and Priscilla in Corinth.
Sometimes God wants us to rethink our plans.
Timothy´s report is that their faith was stronger than Paul could have expected.

#3 Pray for that which you cannot change 3:11-13
In the final verses of chapter 3 we discover that Paul had not let his personal desire to go back to Thessalonica go. Here then is the final lesson… let God know in prayer. Pray for the things that you cannot change or influence. The content of His prayer is threefold and it is an incredible prayer for the Church that we ought to pray often.

Paul prays for…
… the possibility of a personal desire. He still wanted to God back and asks God to make a way. I like the contrary imagery compared to Satan´s work of breaking up the road.
… He prays for growth in breadth and depth. He prays for people to be added to their number and he prays that their love with deepen.
… He prays for the buttressing (literal meaning) of their hearts to stand unashamed in holiness before God at Christ’s return.
Paul is going to say much more about Christ’s return in this book, but what a statement pregnant with expectation and desire for the future.

Paul has submitted to God’s leading - despite the thwarting work of Satan in good plans. He humbly takes a step back, he looks for God’s better plan, and he prays for things He cannot change. And boy does he pray.