Warehouse Christian Church : Washougal WA : A Calvary Chapel Fellowship » 1 Thessalonians

Like A Thief In The Night

Mike Cirillo — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 07:34:53 +0000

1Thessalonians 5: ¹Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, ²for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. ³While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. NIV

(Matthew 24:21-22; Luke 21:25-26)

The Day Of The Lord Will Come:

1. Like: ___________________________________!

1Thessalonians 5: ¹Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, ²for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. NIV

(2Thessalonians 2:3; 2Timothy 3:1-5)

2. Like: ___________________________________________!

1Thessalonians 5: ³While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. NIV

(Matthew 24:3-8; Revelation 6:3-4; Revelation 16:18)

3. As: ____________________________________________!

Daniel 9: ⁴But you, Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge.” NIV

4. As: ____________________________________________!

Matthew 24:³⁷As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ³⁸For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; ³⁹and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. NIV

(Genesis 6:5-6; 1Thessalonians 5:4-9)

The Rapture

Mike Cirillo — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 00:38:59 +0000

1Thessalonians 4:¹³Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. ¹⁴We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. ¹⁵According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸Therefore encourage each other with these words. NIV

(1Corintians 15:50-52)

1. Jesus Told Us To: _________________!

Luke 21: ³⁴“But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. ³⁵For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. ³⁶Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” NKJV

(1Corintians 13:13; James 2:17; Revelation 2:2-4; 1Thessalonians 1:6; 1Thessalonians 2:14)

2. Church Is Absent In: _____________________!

Revelation 2:⁷He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. NIV

(Revelation 1:19; Revelation 19:7-14)

3. Jesus Said He Would Keep Us: _____________________!

Revelation 3:¹⁰Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth. NIV

(Revelation 2:20-25)

4. The Wrath: ______________________________________!

(Revelation 6:15-17)

5. The Church Is Not Warned: ________________________!

John 14:¹“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. ²In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. ³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. ⁴And where I go you know, and the way you know.” NKJV

6. ________________________________________________!

Hosea 12:¹⁰I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets. KJV

(Galatians 4:22-24; Genesis 18:26; 2Peter 2:6-9; Genesis 5:24)

7. The Holy Spirit Releases___________________________!

2Thessalonians 2:⁷For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. NKJV

(Revelation 6:1-2)

8. Daniel’s 70^th _____________________________________!

Daniel 9:²⁴“Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city…NIV

(Jeremiah 30:7)

1 Thessalonians 4-5

Mike Cirillo — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 00:31:36 +0000

Chapter 4

1 Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more – Pleasing God should be priority for the Christian. Cf. Gen 8:21; Psalm 19:14; John 5:30; Rom 12:1; Eph 5:10; Col 1:10; Heb 11:6.

3 It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality – Greek: porneia.

13 Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope – “ignorant” = “no knowledge”

14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. – Those Christians who die will come back with Jesus at His Second Coming.

15 According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep – “The Lord’s own word” is probably direct revelation from Jesus to Paul. “Coming” = parousia = “alongside to be” (Divine Appearing).

“Proper Christian anticipation includes the imminent return of Christ. His coming will be sudden and unexpected, at any-moment possibility. This means that no divinely revealed prophesies remain to be fulfilled before that event. Without setting a deadline, Paul hoped that it would transpire in his own lifetime…Had this not been the Thessalonians outlook, their question regarding the dead in Christ and exclusion from the parousia would have been meaningless…An intervening period of Messianic woes or birth pangs was not their anticipation…(Best, p 183). Hence, Paul believed and had taught his converts that the next event on the prophetic calendar for them was their being gathered to Christ.” (Robert L. Thomas, Expositor’s Bible Commetary, page 278)

16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first – A loud command: Cf. John 5:58. Trumpets used: Cf. Num 10:9-10; 2Sam 6:15; Lev. 23:24; Judges 6:34; 1Sam 13:3; 2Sam 15:10; 20:1. This is not the seventh trumpet of Revelation. The dead in Christ will rise first: either the present dead in Christ are with the Lord in a spiritual body awaiting their final resurrection body or they have already received their resurrection body because they live in eternity.

17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever – “caught up” = harpazo: to seize; catch away or up, pluck, pull, take by force. Cf. 1Cor 15:51-52 (flash = atomos = atom = uncut, cannot be divided; The Planck time is the time it would take a photon travelling at the speed of light to across a distance equal to the Planck length. This is the ‘quantum of time’, the smallest measurement of time that has any meaning, and is equal to 10^-43 seconds. No smaller division of time has any meaning.).

Chapter 5

2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night – The Day of the Lord speaks of the Lord coming in judgment but can have an big picture meaning Cf. Isa 2:12; 13:6; Ezek. 13:5; 30:3; Joel 1:15; 2:1,11,31; 3:14 etc.

3 While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape – “destruction” is the breaking up of peace and safety. Labor pains used to speak of the Tribulation elsewhere in the Bible Cf. Matt. 24:8; Mark 13:8. Labor pains increase with frequency and intensity.

9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ – Cf. Rev 6:15-17; Rom 6:10; Rom 5:9; 1Thess 1:10; Rev 3:10.

19 Do not put out the Spirit’s fire – Cf. Gal 5:16; Eph 5:8-10; Rom 8:5, 13; Gal 3:3; 6:8; Matt 26:41; Rom 7:18.

22 Avoid every kind of evil – KJV: Abstain from all appearances of evil.”

23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ – The spirit is the highest most unique part of man enabling him to communicate with God;. The soul (psuche) is the part that makes him conscience of himself. The body is the physical part.

A Model Church

Mike Cirillo — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 18:22:23 +0000

1Thessalonians 1: ¹Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you. ²We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. ³We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁴For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, ⁵because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. ⁶You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. ⁷And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. ⁸The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, ⁹for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, ¹⁰and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath. NIV

1. The Thessalonians Were: _________________!

1Thessalonians 1: ³We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. NIV

(1Corintians 13:13; James 2:17; Revelation 2:2-4; 1Thessalonians 1:6; 1Thessalonians 2:14)

2. The Thessalonians Were: _________________________!

1Thessalonians:⁴For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, ⁵because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. ⁶…you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. NIV

(Acts 17:10-11; Matthew 4:4; Hebrews 5:12-14; 1Timothy 3:16-17)

Bible Intake:

1. __________________________(1Thessalonians 2:13)

2. _______________________________(Revelation 1:3)

3. ______________________(Proverbs 2:1-5; Acts 17:11)

4. ________________________________(Palm 119:11)

5. _______________________________(Psalm 119:148)

6. _______________________________(James 1:22-25)

3. The Thessalonians Were: _________________________!

1Thessalonians 1:⁷And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. ⁸The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. NIV

(Philemon 6)

1 Thessalonians 1-3

Mike Cirillo — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 21:44:49 +0000

Possibly, the earliest writing of the New Testament. Was written very shortly after this church was formed and was written from Corinth around A.D. 50-51.

Timothy, having been sent back to check on the situation at Thessalonica, met Paul in Corinth and delivered his report (Acts 18:5; 1 Thess. 3:6)….Paul’s stay in Corinth can be correlated with Gallio’s term as proconsul (Acts 18:12). An inscription found at Delphi, not far from Corinth, refers to Gallio as proconsul at Corinth in early a.d. 52. Since proconsuls took office during the summer, Gallio would have commenced his term in the summer of A.D. 51. Paul’s trial before Gallio (Acts 18:12–17) probably took place shortly after he assumed office. Since Paul had apparently been in Corinth for some time before Gallio arrived, and wrote 1 Thessalonians shortly after his arrival in Corinth, the epistle was probably written late in A.D. 50 or early in A.D. 51.

Located at the head of the Thermaic Gulf, which was a branch of the Aegean Sea, Thessalonica was a thriving seaport located on the famous Egnatian Way. Founded in 315 B.C. by Cassander, son-in-law of Philip of Macedon and one of Alexander The Great’s four key generals, who named the city after his wife Thessalonike, the half-sister of Alexander the Great.

For Background: Cf. Acts 17

Chapter 1

1 Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you – Silas, probably a Hellenistic Jew, was a prominent member of the Jerusalem church who first accompanied Paul on the apostle’s second missionary journey (Acts 15:40) and later was a scribe for Peter (cf. 1 Peter 5:12). He was set free with Paul in the Philippian jail (Acts 16:19-24). When Paul first came to Thessalonica, Silas came with him (Acts 17:1-9).

Timothy was a native of Lystra in Galatia (Acts 16:1–3), in Asia Minor. He was Paul’s son in the faith (1 Cor. 4:17; Phil. 2:22; 1 Tim. 1:2; 2 Tim. 1:2; 2:1). He was the son of a Greek father (Acts 16:2), and a Jewish mother named Eunice (2 Timothy 2:5). From his youth, he had been taught in the Scriptures by his mother and grandmother (2 Timothy 1:5; 3:15).

3 We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ – Faith, love, and hope always seem to be connected in the N.T.: 5:8; 1 Cor 13:13; Gal 5:5f; Col 1:4f; Heb 6:10-12, 10:22-24; 1 Pet 1:21f.

7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia – “model” tupon, is the mark left by a blow, as when a die strikes an image on a coin.

9 They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God – From Thessalonica, Mt. Olympus was about 50 miles southwest of their city. In Greek mythology the mountain was regarded as the “home of the gods”, specifically of the Twelve Olympians, the twelve principal gods of the ancient Hellenistic world: Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Athena, Ares, Hermes, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Hades, Apollo, Artemis, Hestia. The Roman counterparts are: Jupiter, Juno, Neptune, Ceres, Mars, Mercury, Vulcan, Venus, Minerva, Apollo, Diana and Vesta.

10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath – At the end of each of the first four chapters, Paul mentions the second coming of Jesus.

The clear implication of this verse is that Paul hoped in the Lord’s imminent return. Otherwise Paul would have told his readers to prepare for the Tribulation. Woolvard

Chapter 2

1 You know, brothers, that our visit to you was not a failure. ²We had previously suffered and been insulted in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in spite of strong opposition – They chased after him (Acts 17:5-6 and 17:13).

Chapter 3

1-2 So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens. ²We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God’s fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith – Paul initially came to Athens without Timothy and Silas (Acts 17:14), but they eventually joined him there (v. 15). After a short period of time, Paul sent Timothy back to Thessalonica (Acts 18:5) to determine their condition (1 Thess. 3:5), and he apparently sent Silas somewhere else in Macedonia, perhaps Philippi (18:5; cf. 2 Cor. 11:9; Phil. 4:15).

5 For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless – Paul could have been concerned about the Thessalonians ease of just accepting things at face value: Cf. Acts 17:11.