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Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
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Abound in Holiness |
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I
Thessalonians 4:1-12 Ninth
Sunday after trinity August 9, 2009 We already know what God wants. This knowledge is written on the heart of every human being, for all “hold the truth” as Paul wrote in Romans 1:18. God is revealed in nature and in the conscience of every person (Rom. 1: 18-25, 2:14-15). We know what God wants because we also have the revelation of God in Christ and in Scripture. So God, speaking to the Church through the Apostle Paul says, in I Thessalonians 4:2, “For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus Christ.” The word “commandments” translates a Greek word that means military orders passed through the chain of command. We have all seen examples of this, and many of us have been participants in such things. A battalion of soldiers lines up by companies and the commander calls out, “Battalion.” Then he pauses for a moment, and while he pauses the captains of the individual companies call out, “Company.” This is followed down the line as within the company the platoon leaders call “Platoon” and the squad leaders call “Squad.” The same procedure follows as the commander calls, “Forward.” Thus every soldier in the battalion is prepared and moves forward in unison as one man at the command, “March.” Paul is telling the Thessalonians that, in a similar fashion, they have already received their orders from God. They came from Jesus Christ down the line through the Scriptures. They are not simply suggestions. They are orders from our King and Commander, and we know what He wants us to do. We know His will for us. Yet, just as Paul stated it again plainly for the Thessalonians, allow me to state it again today. “For this is the will of God, even your sanctification,” (I Thess. 4:3). Sanctification is a big word but it’s just church talk for “living like a Christian.” We have several examples of the sanctified life in the following verses. Paul writes first of sexual purity, telling us to abstain from fornication and to possess our own vessels, that is our own bodies, in sanctification and honour. Again, we know what this means. We don’t need a sermon on it, but I will say that sexual purity encompasses our thoughts as well as our actions. It is an attitude and it affects the way we dress and talk and think and where we go and what we do when we get there. Paul then writes of integrity in our dealings with all people. He says we are not to “defraud … in any matter” (vs. 6). Here, too, we understand this, and any attempt on my part to explain, define, interpret, and clarify it will be unnecessary, unrequired, needless, unessential, pointless, and useless redundancy. Next he tells us to love one another. Again, we all know God wants us to love one another; and we all know how to love. Our problem is that our preoccupation with our own wants and egos often leads us to be very unloving and very unlovable. It should be obvious to all who name Christ as Lord and Master that sexual purity and integrity in interpersonal dealings are both subcategories of the general subject of love. That is why Jesus could summarize the spirit and intent of the entire Law of God by saying, love God with all that you are, and love your neighbor as you love yourself.
I need to remind you today that sanctification is not something you
accomplish for God; it is something God accomplishes for you. You are sanctified because God has made you holy through the
atoning sacrifice of Christ. The
Father chose you and laid the plan for your salvation. Christ the Son paid the price of your salvation by giving His
life for your soul on the cross. He
paid the debt of your sin and you are free.
The Holy Spirit called you to faith.
He overcame your excuses and your resistance and enabled you to
trust in Christ. So God
regenerated you and justified you, as I have talked about in recent
sermons, therefore you are holy. All
of this is the work of God in your life; a gift from God to you.
So you do not live the Christian life to become sanctified, you
live the Christian life because you are sanctified.
And because you are sanctified, the Bible encourages you to abound
in the goodness and holiness you already know you should be doing. Paul puts this in very pictorial language in I Thessalonians,
beseeching them that “as ye have
received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound
more and more.” Paul is not chastising these people. He is commending them. He is not saying they are not living the Christian life. He is encouraging them to abound in it more and more. He is urging them to set their sights higher. He is asking them have higher goals in godliness. To abound means to enjoy great richness and luxuriant abundance. Today I ask you, is that your goal? Is that your intention? Do you seek to abound, to be luxuriously rich in godliness? With Paul I commend you for your faith and life. You have done well. Your presence here this morning is an act of faith and courage. You have taken a stand for the Gospel. You have done well. But, you have not done all that you can. Are there no sins left in your life to conquer? Are there no attitudes left to change? Are there no hurts left to forgive? Are there no idols left to tear down in your heart? I urge you that as you know how you ought to walk and to please God, “so ye would abound more and more.” I can think of no better way to close a sermon on this passage than to pray together the Collect for the Ninth Sunday after Trinity found on page 200 of the Prayer Book: “Grant to us, Lord, we beseech thee, the spirit to think and do always such things as are right; that we, who cannot do anything that is good without thee, may by thee be enabled to live according to thy will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”
The Rev. Dr. R. Dennis Campbell, Vicar, Holy Trinity
Anglican Church,
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