Cornerstone Class Outline for 2/17/19
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Announcements,
praises and prayer requests—Joe or Vicki Kerns
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| Purchase Mornings with Larry at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HNQKB1L |
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Introduction:
o
I’d like to begin
with another quote by Asbury professor Steve Seamands:
“I
really think God’s way is for us to be more like sailboats than rowboats. The
wind of the Spirit moves us along and our job is to learn how to catch the
wind.”
§ So, if we approach the Christian life like it’s a
rowboat, we end up doing unnecessary work.
§ But if we approach the Christian life like it’s a sailboat,
then the Holy Spirit does the primary work.
§ I’m not sure how this illustration fits in with 2
Thessalonians, but I thought it would be a good and positive way to start off
this class.
o
The wonderful and
disturbing thing about doing a verse-by-verse study of the Bible is that you
cover topics of the faith that might be passed over otherwise.
§ Hell is one of those topics.
§ We’ll discuss it as we study 2 Thessalonians chapter
one
o
I’d like to
briefly give you three [or 4] views of Hell:
§ Optional: [18th century theologian and
preacher Jonathon Edwards advocated the fire and brimstone view. This is from
his sermon Sinners in the Hands of an
Angry God:
“That
world of misery, that lake of burning brimstone, is extended abroad under you.”
“…you must suffer it to all eternity: there will be no end to this exquisite,
horrible misery.”]
§ In the book The
Case for Faith, Evangelical scholar and philosopher J.P. Moreland is quoted:
“In
the Bible, hell is separation or banishment from the most beautiful being in
the world—God himself. It is exclusion from anything that matters, from all
value, not only from God but also from those who have come to know and love
him…. Make no mistake: hell is punishment—but
it’s not a punishing. It’s not
torture. The punishment of hell is separation from God, bringing shame,
anguish, and regret.”
§ The Church of the Nazarene Articles of Faith state the
following:
“16.
We believe in the resurrection of the dead, that the bodies both of the just
and of the unjust shall be raised to life and united with their spirits — “they
that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done
evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”
“16.2.
We believe that glorious and everlasting life is assured to all who savingly
believe in, and obediently follow, Jesus Christ our Lord; and that the finally
impenitent shall suffer eternally in hell.”
§ Finally, the following quote is often attributed to Mark
Twain: “Heaven for the climate; hell for the companionship.” [Senator Ben Wade,
1885]
·
With those views
of the hereafter in mind, let’s read 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10 NIV:
“5 All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right,
and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you
are suffering. 6 God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you
7 and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen
when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8 He will punish those who do not know God
and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with
everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the
glory of his might 10 on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people
and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you,
because you believed our testimony to you.”
o
In these verses, Paul
alternates between God’s blessings for believers and punishment for
unbelievers.
§ Verse 5: Blessing—the Thes. Believers “will be counted
worthy of the kingdom of God.”
§ Verse 6: Punishment—God will “pay back trouble to” the
persecutors
§ Verse 7: Blessing—God will “give relief” to the Thes.
Christians and to “us” [probably Paul, Timothy and Silus]
§ Verses 8-9: Punishment—God “will punish those” who
don’t know God and who don’t obey the Gospel of Jesus
§ Verse 10: Blessing—God will be glorified in His holy
people when Christ returns, and believers will marvel at Him
·
QUESTIONS on
1:6-10
o
Verses 6 and 7
say that God will pay the persecutors back and give relief to the persecuted. When
will this happen, according to verse 7?
o
What will the
second coming of Jesus be like?
§ [7b Jesus will be “revealed
from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels”]
o
In verse 8, what
does it mean to “obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.”?
§ I think it simply means to repent (turn to God) and
believe the Good News that Jesus is the Son of God who died for our sins and
was resurrected from the dead.
o
Verse 9 is
describing Hell. Theologians debate over just what Hell is. What do you think
it is?
o
[if not answered
previously, then ask] Is Hell an eternal torture chamber or conscious
separation from God?
o
How do you feel
when you think of Hell?
o
Now for an
uplifting question. In verse 10, at Jesus’ second coming, what does it mean
that Jesus will “be glorified in His holy people…”?
§ Verse 10 could be a reference to the resurrection, our
glorification (Rom. 8:30).
1
Corinthians 15:51-53 NIV says:
“51
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be
changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For
the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be
changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and
the mortal with immortality.”
§ This is a description of our full transformation, when
we receive our resurrected bodies. Christ will be glorified in us in a complete
way.
·
Let’s read 2
Thessalonians 1:11-12
“11 With this in mind, we constantly pray for you,
that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may
bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted
by faith. 12 We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified
in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus
Christ.”
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QUESTIONS on 1:11-12
o
In verse 11, Paul
prays that God will make the Thessalonians “worthy of his calling.” What
spiritual process is Paul referring to?
§ Probably sanctification or spiritual growth
o
In verse 12, how
will the name of Jesus be glorified in the Thessalonians?
§ God chooses to be glorified in Christians because of His
unmerited favor toward them.
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Application/Conclusion
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Closing prayer
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