Fellowship Bible Church - Mullica, Hill N.J.
A Proper Perspective on a To-Do List (1 Thessalonians 5:12-24)
Our Vision: Together, strengthening you to change your world for Christ.
Locations & Times
Fellowship Bible Church
590 Jackson Rd, Sewell, NJ 08080, USA
Sunday 9:15 AM
www.aboutfbc.org/groups
TO DO LISTS IN THE BIBLE...
•GENESIS 1-2. Be fruitful, name the animals, don’t eat the fruit from one tree.
•EXODUS 20 Ten Rules
•LEVITICUS. 613 Rules
•MICAH 6:8
•GENESIS 1-2. Be fruitful, name the animals, don’t eat the fruit from one tree.
•EXODUS 20 Ten Rules
•LEVITICUS. 613 Rules
•MICAH 6:8
TO DO LISTS IN THE BIBLE...
•GENESIS 1-2. Be fruitful, name the animals, don’t eat the fruit from one tree.
•EXODUS 20 Ten Rules
•LEVITICUS. 613 Rules
•MICAH 6:8
•MATTHEW 7:12 Golden Rule
•MATTHEW 22: 37-40
•GENESIS 1-2. Be fruitful, name the animals, don’t eat the fruit from one tree.
•EXODUS 20 Ten Rules
•LEVITICUS. 613 Rules
•MICAH 6:8
•MATTHEW 7:12 Golden Rule
•MATTHEW 22: 37-40
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
So what do we do with Paul’s “to do” list for the Thessalonians?
•Ignore it?
•Religiously follow?
•Pick and choose?
•Ignore it?
•Religiously follow?
•Pick and choose?
Rules for Rules:
•Scripture interprets Scripture
•Audience (scripture was written for us, not to us)
•Context
•Culture
•Commonality
•Scripture interprets Scripture
•Audience (scripture was written for us, not to us)
•Context
•Culture
•Commonality
What do we know about the author?
•An unlikely apostle
But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
Acts 9:1-2
•Opposed requiring the gentiles to adhere to Jewish laws
14 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?” – Galatians 2:14
•Sought to Imitate Christ and called others to follow his lead
I urge you, then, be imitators of me. That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church. 1 Corinthians 4:16-17
•An unlikely apostle
But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
Acts 9:1-2
•Opposed requiring the gentiles to adhere to Jewish laws
14 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?” – Galatians 2:14
•Sought to Imitate Christ and called others to follow his lead
I urge you, then, be imitators of me. That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church. 1 Corinthians 4:16-17
•So Paul comes with the authority of a proven Apostle, who is not seeking to impose a set of of rules, but to provide a guide for how to be an imitator of Christ.
Precept, Principle, Person
•Josh McDowell in his book “Right from Wrong” sets out a method for studying the commands found in scripture.
•For every Precept there is a Principle behind it. And behind every Principal there is a Person.
•Josh McDowell in his book “Right from Wrong” sets out a method for studying the commands found in scripture.
•For every Precept there is a Principle behind it. And behind every Principal there is a Person.
Sanctification, like faith, is both an event and a process.
23 And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”
23 And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”