Cornerstone Class Outline for 1/20/19—Tom Nash
·
Announcements,
praises and prayer requests—Joe Kerns
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Hand out map of
Paul’s second missionary journey and give context using Acts 17:
o
I found this map
of Paul’s second missionary journey on the Blue Letter Bible website. You can
find maps like this in the backs of your Bibles, but I liked this one because
of the nice descriptions of his journey below the map.
o
I’d like to spend
a couple of minutes going through this as a review to give us some context to 1
Thessalonians.
o
He crosses the Aegean
Sea into Macedonia, eventually ending up in Thessalonica.
o
I’d like to read a
few passages from Acts 17 that describe the founding of the church in
Thessalonica
o
Acts 17:1-3
“1
When Paul and his companions had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they
came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2 As was his custom,
Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them
from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer
and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he
said. 4 Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a
large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women.
§ Paul spent at least 3 weeks in Thessalonica teaching
about the Messiah
§ Some Jews believed, as well as a large number of
Gentiles and prominent women
o
Acts 17:4-10
“5 But other Jews were jealous; so they rounded up
some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in
the city. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to
bring them out to the crowd. 6 But when they did not find them, they dragged
Jason and some other believers before the city officials, shouting: “These men
who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, 7 and Jason has
welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying
that there is another king, one called Jesus.” 8 When they heard this, the
crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil. 9 Then they made Jason
and the others post bond and let them go.
“10 As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and
Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue.”
§ Essentially, the Jews and city officials chased Paul
out of town
§ Also, this describes the harsh environment that the
new Thessalonian believers had to live in. We know they were a persecuted
church, which is why much of 1 Thessalonians is full of encouragement from
Paul.
o
From Berea, Paul
traveled to Athens, then Corinth
o
In Corinth he
wrote 1 and 2 Thessalonians in about 51 AD
o
By the way, 1 and
2 Thessalonians were Paul’s first canonical letters
o
I think by seeing
Paul’s travels on a map, it gives us some context that helps us to better
understand the details of scripture.
·
Discussion. Let’s
start with 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3 NIV:
“1 Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates
we do not need to write to you, 2 for you know very well that the day
of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 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.
·
Questions on 1
Thes. 5:1-3 NIV:
o
What does Paul
mean in verse 1 when where he states “about times and dates we do not need to
write to you.”?
·
Answer: it’s a
figure of speech meaning no one knows when the day of the Lord will happen.
·
Also, he may have
explained these things to them on his original visit.
o
In verse two, what
is the day of the Lord?
·
Possible answer:
In the OT, the day of the Lord was often used to describe the judgment of God
in the last days (Amos 5:18).
·
In the NT the day
of the Lord encompasses the second coming of Christ, the resurrection, eternal
life and blessing for believers, judgment for unbelievers. The great
tribulation could be included.
o
Why does Paul use
the simile “the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.”?
·
Answer: it will
be a bad surprise for unbelievers
o
What is the
sudden destruction in verse 3?
·
Possible answer: The
word destruction is also in 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9 NIV “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….”
·
Let’s continue on
and read 1 Thessalonians 5:4-8 NIV:
“4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness
so that this day should surprise you like a thief. 5 You are all children of
the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the
darkness. 6 So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be
awake and sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get
drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober,
putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a
helmet.”
·
Questions on 1
Thessalonians 5:4-8 NIV:
o
In verse 4, Paul
says that the day of the Lord shouldn’t surprise the Thessalonian believers
like a thief. Why shouldn’t they be surprised?
·
Possible answers:
they are children of light and day.
o
In verses 6-8,
Paul exhorts the Thessalonian believers to be awake and sober, and to put on faith,
love and the hope of salvation. Why is Paul exhorting them? Is it possible that
some Christians will be caught off guard on the day of the Lord?
·
Possible answer:
lukewarm Christians who don’t know the scriptures will be surprised on the day
of the Lord
·
Let’s read 1
Thessalonians 5:9-11 NIV:
“9
For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our
Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep,
we may live together with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build
each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”
·
Questions on 1
Thessalonians 5:9-11 NIV:
o
Based on verses
9-10, what is the destiny of believers on the day of the Lord?
o
With our ultimate
hope in mind, what does verse 11 tell us to do?
·
Encourage and
built each other up
·
Concluding
comments:
o
In the last few
weeks, we’ve covered two sections of prophecy in 1 Thessalonians. Both sections
conclude in a similar way.
o In the first section, 1 Thessalonians
4:13-18, verse 18 says, “Therefore encourage one another with these words.”
o In the second section, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, verse 11 says, “Therefore encourage one another and
build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”
o
The Thessalonians
were a young, persecuted church in need of encouragement. Paul wrote about the second
coming and resurrection to give these new Christians hope that they would be
saved and have eternal life.
o
They needed this
hope to endure the difficulties of their present life.
o
So Paul exhorted
them to encourage one another and build each other up.
o
Likewise, we are to encourage and build up each
other by keeping in mind the incredible blessings that await us when Jesus
returns.
·
We’ll receive our
resurrection bodies
·
We’ll spend
eternity in the perfect presence of the Lord. No more seeing through a glass
darkly.
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Closing prayer
* * *
Nazarene Articles of Faith
concerning the second coming, the resurrection, judgment, and eternity:
XV. Second Coming of Christ
15.
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ will come again; that we
who are alive at His coming shall not precede them that are asleep in Christ
Jesus; but that, if we are abiding in Him, we shall be caught up with the risen
saints to meet the Lord in the air, so that we shall ever be with the Lord.
(Matthew
25:31-46; John 14:1-3; Acts 1:9-11; Philippians 3:20-21; 1 Thessalonians
4:13-18; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 9:26-28; 2 Peter 3:3-15; Revelation 1:7-8;
22:7-20)
XVI. Resurrection, Judgment, and Destiny
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.”
16.1.
We believe in future judgment in which every person shall appear
before God to be judged according to his or her deeds in this life.
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.
(Genesis
18:25; 1 Samuel 2:10; Psalm 50:6; Isaiah 26:19; Daniel 12:2-3; Matthew
25:31-46; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:19-31; 20:27-38; John 3:16-18; 5:25-29; 11:21-27;
Acts 17:30-31; Romans 2:1-16; 14:7-12; 1 Corinthians 15:12-58
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