2 December 2010
Psalm 18.1-20; Isaiah 2.12-22; 1 Thess 3.1-13; Luke 20.27-40

Isaiah tells of the terror of the Lord in His judgment. That day will be a day when the entire earth is brought to judgment and in that day nothing can stand, all will do as Adam and Eve did when they first sinned, it will attempt to hide from the coming of the Lord and will be equally unsuccessful. What we see in the Revelation is slightly different but perhaps only because it is a more complete vision of the end. What we see there is the fulfillment of what began that day in the Garden, the rebellion against God that believes that ultimately either He does not exist or that He can be defeated. The work of the Holy Spirit is to restore that sensitivity to sin in our lives that existed at the beginning, the understanding that sin is a terrible thing and because of it we cannot be in the presence of a holy God.

The Sadducees attempt to make a mockery of the resurrection with the example of a woman marrying multiple men so whose wife will she be in the resurrection. Jesus dismisses their attempt by destroying the idea that an analogy can be made between this life and the next. In the book The Great Divorce CS Lewis shows this passage in some ways in allegory form. A woman is confronted by her former husband in the afterlife and his desire is to use love to control her just as he had on earth and she will have none of it, pointing instead to a greater love than any human love that would control through any means. We tend to think of heaven as simply an extension of this earth and here Jesus says that it is a poor imitation of eternity and the cause of that is sin.
Paul rejoices that the faith of the Thessalonians is persevering in spite of both the persecution they have experienced and Paul’s own afflictions of which they are aware. Timothy’s report of them encourages Paul that they will survive. What a joy it must have been to Paul to see that even though he was no longer with them they continued to believe all he had taught them and this in spite of opposition and false teachers. As he looked back on all his mission work, Paul was always anxious to hear that those who had come to faith were continuing in that faith and his prayer for them, as for all the churches he started, was simple, “may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.” Perseverance of the saints was always Paul’s prayer.

I love you, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.