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THREE AMBITIONS FOR THE CHRISTIAN

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Introduction - Definition and context

1 Thesselonians 4/1-12
  1. Christians here were acutely aware of the second coming of the Lord and their responsibility to the great commission of the Lord (Matthew 28/18). They were aware that gospel must be preached. Serving the Lord full time is not the only way. Paul calls them to live their ordinary lives daily as even ordinary lives call for extraordinary grace in the home, church and world.
  2. The ordinary life is not just a bare minimum life or just a good enough kind of life (avoiding all the wrong things - which is important). It is a life that pleases God by some positive actions and fulfill the great commission. We must live this ordinary life without a kind of dangerous spiritual complacency.
  3. What does it mean for Christians to live the great Commission? We must be ambitious for the basic and lowly things of life - make those your motives and be content with a few things. All Christians are given a calling /vocation and each vocation has dignity and value in the eyes of God.
Ambition 1 - Lead a self controlled life, a quiet life and one that will mind your own business

The life of the Christian must be a life of control (4/1-8)

Avoid all kinds of sexual immorality – in thought, word and deed. Pursue holiness in this area by living with your wife in an honourable way or acquiring a wife (in that day, chastity was seen as an unreasonable hindrance). We must be different from the heathen who exercises no self control. Believers must not cause harm to others but fear the Lord who calls us to holiness and obey the Holy Spirit who resides in us.

The life of the Christian must be a quite life (4/11-12)

Make it your ambition to be unknown, to be joyfully and contentedly unknown. Be content with a life that is not thrusting itself into the public eye always. Live a life that is content to be unknown and unnoticed if that is the Lords will. We must live a life not measured by popularity and platform but faithfulness (Isaiah 42/1-6). In church leadership sometimes, we do need some people (like Paul) to take a position of prominence - who have proved their character in obscurity first and be equally content to remain far out of the spotlight.

The Christians ambition must be to mind his own business

Give attention to the few matters that belong to you. Stay out of things that don’t belong to you. Stay in your lane and focus on what you have to do and see to it that you consistently work at finishing it. Humbly give yourself to the few responsibilities God has called you to do. Minding your own business does not mean that we must not be concerned about the welfare of others. However, each member in the body of Christ has a gift and calling and each of us must give priority to this vocation.This is possible only if everyone is doing their part –minding their business, being focused and giving priority to their work. It is not Gods design that any one member must be overburdened with other peoples business.

Ambition 2 - Work hard with your hands (4/11-12)
  1. We are tempted to refuse to get involved in much of anything. LAZINESS haunts us. We must first of all work hard in our work to provide for ourselves. We must also work hard at having enough so that we can provide for those who have true needs. Often those who work are able to do more for the Lords work and people.
  2. As leaders - we must always labour to get people to use their place of calling as the most important place of Christian witness. The church is only a part of our life not where we serve God. Most of our work of service to God is in this world where we spend most of our week.
  3. Continue with that work even if it is manual labour. The ordinary occupations of life – a peasant farmer, domestic worker, soldier, professional or king were considered as worldly. Such people could be saved but they were considered as wired to the world. In the previous ages, to serve God fully, and to live a life that is truly spiritual required a full time commitment. During the reformation it was established that vocation/calling was not limited to monks and priests only - but all Christians. All Christians are given a calling /vocation and each vocation has dignity and value in the eyes of God.
Ambition 3 - Win the respect of outsiders

Life in the community (4/9-10)
  1. Commit to loving people in the local church. Hard work has Congregational value. It frees us from being dependent on others. Better still – it frees us to help those who need our help. The challenge often is to discriminate between people who are not truly saved or who live irresponsible lives and become a drain on the resources of the church.
  2. We are to extend love to all people but focus especially on brothers and sisters in the local church. Remember that it is not just the giving of money that counts. For others it will be giving time to help physically in the church or/and taking time to do practical things for others .
  3. Often such love is not reciprocated and we must beware of "false brethren" who undermine such genuine evidence of brotherly love (2 Cor 6/11-13). Many want to be ministers without first learning to give and receive sincere Christian love. They don’t take time to show respect to connect with people .True brotherly love always grows and abounds more and more.
Life on mission (4/11-12)
  1. The life of doing these simple things (living holy and self controlled lives, having genuine love for believers, focusing on your own responsibility and working hard ) will enable you to carry out the Great Commission. People will then be prepared to listen to us when we open our mouth to speak the gospel message .
  2. We must be prepared always to give an answer to everyone who asks us a reason for our hope in Christ. We must preach the gospel with our lives in the home, world and church BUT always be ready to speak. We must be faithful where we are. God is pleased when we live ordinary lives that proclaim and live an extraordinary gospel message.
  3. We must be concerned about the souls of individuals behind those faces and ensure that our lives are in a condition that God can use.
Conclusion –Summary points

Let us commit to live such lives that will win the respect of outsiders. Pray that the Lord may be pleased to use us when we speak. Let us see the needs of individuals before us and not programs. The moment the thread of life breaks – they will be cut off from Gods presence forever. Daily in war, crimes, natural disasters and unexpected illness or life threatening disease –the fire of Hell engulfs so many people. We must preach the gospel clearly or not speak at all. All our children must be able to immediately recognize error and refute it. As leaders we must teach them very clearly to defend the faith.
  1. In some some professions (doctors , health care workers, teachers and legal people ) we interact with people about very close and personal matters. This gives more opportunity to present the gospel. However in every work situation – the way we work is the best testimony, even students. Why do we as evangelicals lack such integrity and motivation? Daily as we work, let us make the most of every opportunity in the quality of our work ( serve a higher Master Col 3/22) .
  2. Let us reach out prayerfully to family and contacts. As we live simple Christ centred life, and show them kindness, they will be more likely to respect what we say about their souls. With family it is difficult to share your faith as they feel offended. However our holy lives and the way we live our lives especially in times of crisis, speaks a lot more to them.
  3. Let us learn how we use money and our time in the church. Are we seeking to ensure that the needs of the Lords work and his people are being met by giving sacrificially? Do we support full time workers adequately? Are full time workers fully engaged and working hard ? As believers do we make time to relate and connect with our brothers and sisters. The first thing is by coming regularly to the meetings where we can receive and give encouragement. This is the only sign of sincerity.
Finally - are we showing hunger and thirst for spiritual food? We all offend in many ways and we all are prone to be overtaken in sin. However, the Lord desires above all that we are contrite and tremble at his word AND are found where his word is taught? Do we show reverence for his word? Do we come prepared to listen and speak? So many go on for years without any sincerity in this regard. This is not evidence of a growing brotherly love. In addition to our own personal growth - preparation is evidence of love for others - for believers or unbelievers.

WITHOUT THIS WE CANNOT FULFILL THE GREAT COMMISSION.

Henry Sunpath
18/09/16
Chatsworth
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TSSFL -- A Creative Journey Towards Infinite Possibilities!
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