Saying Good-Bye

1 Thessalonians 5-Part 8
And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.            
1 Thess. 5:23-24


LET IT GLOW

It can be a difficult thing, saying bye to old friends. Recently, we enjoyed catching up on what has happened in the lives of our  friends in the past seventeen years. We only had a few short hours in which to share highlights of events and see pictures of grown children and grandchildren. Then it was time to exchange hugs, good- byes, and drive away.  

Paul took 6 verses to say farewell to his friends at Thessalonica, in closing this letter, his benediction if you will. What was the first thing Paul focused on? God was. Since God inspired and preserved this for our benefit, let's see how it applies to us. Charles Swindoll can help us out using his book, Contagious Christianity:

God is faithful.
By placing the word Himself at the front of the sentence, Paul was putting the emphasis on God. He wanted the Thessalonians to know that the Lord-not anyone or anything else-would be the direct source of the good works that he was about to list.
The God of peace would be their provider.
In the New Testament, peace conveys the idea of harmony, friendliness, and contentment. It's opposed to such things as disorder, conflict, and confusion, and it's void of irritability, anxiety, and impatience. This view of God as the God of peace is certainly foreign to the gods often represented by idols. Their followers are constantly trying to appease their demands and fulfill their insatiable appetites. How unlike the true God-the Lord of peace! His just wrath was fully propitiated (that is, satisfied) by the voluntary sacrifice of His own Son, whose death on the cross provided a sufficient pardon for our sins. In order to gain our freedom from sin, all we must do is accept by faith the full pardon God grants to us through the blood of His Son. Christ has done it all for us.
Will you let our Faithful God give you  peace today? Do I trust Him with everything in my life?


LET IT GROW

Paul's focus then turns from God's title to His works. He mentions three which he asks God to accomplish in the Thessalonians:
1. Complete Sanctification
    The word sanctify means "to set apart." It has reference to being separated from the roots and fruits of
    evil. Paul's prayer request was for the God of peace to comletely separate them from "every form of evil."
2. Complete Preservation
    In case the Thessalonians thought that he was praying for God to sanctify them by removing them from the
    world, Paul added these words: "May your spirit and sould and body be preserved complete." The Greek
    word translated preserved means "to watch over, to guard, to keep." It often implies assault from without.
    And from what or whom would the assault come? There are always three sources: Satan, other people,
    and ourselves. The request here is that God would guard the entire being of every Christian through every
    assult of sin, no matter what its source. The Lord promises to insulate His people through the spiritual
    battle, not to insulate them from it (John 17:15).
3. Complete Blamelessness
    When the Lord Jesus Christ returns for His own people, they will stand before Him in glory, totally void of
    fault, condemnation, and guilt. They will be holy, free from the penalty, power, and presence of sin. Verse
    24 does not negate our responsibility to strive toward godliness, but it does assure us that God will bring
    to pass all that He has provided for us in Christ. "If we are faithless, He remains faithful; for He cannot
    deny Himself" 2 Timothy 2:13 says. [Contagious Christianity]

It's all about Jesus. He does everything for us-sanctifies, preserves, and covers us with His blood so we are blameless.
Looking at verse 24 again, I read what John MacArthur had to say:
"Every time the divine call is mentioned in the NT, it refers to God's effectual call of His chosen ones to salvation. The God who calls will also bring those whom He calls to glory, and none will be lost (John 6:37-44; 10:28, Phil. 1:6)."

What a promise!


LET IT GO

Believe in the God who is faithful and the provider of peace.

Trust in Jesus for my sanctification, preservation, and blamelessness.

Know that God is faithful in His call to others for salvation.