When Christ returns, He will conduct a final and accurate audit of every person. Over the years, many theologians have referred to the Second Coming of Christ as the Great Reversal.

Christ will make right all the wrongs during this final audit.

In this final portion of 1 Thessalonians 5, Paul gives his readers and us an admonition that is vitally important to the born-again believer and the church family. Couched in the form of a beautiful prayer, Paul prays for the sanctification of the born-again believers while looking forward to the Lord's Second Coming. When we take a closer look at this great prayer, Paul provides us with insights into the biblical concept of sanctification.

The moment you and I trusted Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, we were pronounced in the court of heaven as perfectly holy because Christ took on our sin and imparted to us His righteousness. Then the Holy Spirit starts a lifelong process within us called sanctification so that we become more like Jesus from the inside out. In this process of sanctification, we need to actively yield to the Holy Spirit and the Word of God to grow in Christ.

We also need to note that it is possible to ignore, grieve, and quench the Holy Spirit in our lives. When this happens, our spiritual growth and journey go into reverse. When it comes to our spiritual health and development, there is no neutral; either we move forward with the Holy Spirit or we move backward and risk being drawn into the sinful world system.

In this passage, Paul warns the church family in Thessalonica about this danger.

In the Christian church, there appears to be a profound misunderstanding of what the Bible means when it uses the words "joy," "rejoice," "prayer," and "thanksgiving." A biblical understanding of the meanings of these words will lead to a more informed biblical worldview and a more effective approach to life, with all its challenges.

In last week's passage, we discussed the church family and our relationships with one another. In this week's passage, Paul gives us vital instructions on our relationship with God as a church family.

God instituted the family system starting with Adam and Eve. The Scriptures reinforce that family unity is essential to culture, our country, and the church. When families are emotionally and spiritually well, then our families, neighborhoods, churches, and country are all stronger.

We can all agree that unconfessed sin can make families very dysfunctional because the real problems are often never identified, confessed, repented of, and resolved. In this passage, Paul offers essential practical guidance for church families to maintain emotional and spiritual well-being.

The Second Coming of Christ has been the subject of much speculation during the past 2000 years. Theologians, pastors, Bible teachers, and even false teachers have spent much time and energy trying to come up with the definitive times table concerning the Second Coming.

It is a fact of life that we all live to please someone. Think about that for a moment. Are we living to please our spouse or family? Are we living to please our employer? Are we living to please ourselves? This is a key question we all need to answer daily.

In this passage, Paul answers this question and gives us guidelines for what it looks like to please God. You and I need to hear these guidelines and apply them to our lives with the help of the Holy Spirit.