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1 Thessalonians 5:16-24: First Piece of Holiness Pi (1/7)

Have you ever seen those motivational speakers on TV or in person. They usually have some way that they want you to remember what it is they are trying to motivate you to do. One thing that people often is acronyms – you spell out a word and every letter stands for something else. Sometimes they just have an alliterative list with each item in the cue staring with the same letter or the same sound, like Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Paul in our scripture passage uses some of these very techniques and in this pericope that we are looking at this week. Paul gives us the 7 Ps (Greek 'Pi’) of being holy or blameless in preparation for Christ’s return (1 Thessalonians 5:23).[4] In Greek, the language Paul uses in this letter to the Thessalonians, each of these phrases begins with the Greek letter ‘Pi’, which is roughly the equivalent of the English letter ‘P’. Now Paul knows that Jesus may come back at any moment and so he comes up with this way for us to remember how to be blameless, how to be holy in preparation for this event. Today we will look at P1 /Pi 1.

Pi 1 = Rejoice Always

The First P is ‘Rejoice Always’ – In Greek it starts with P – or Pi.  Rejoice Always (Thessalonians 5:16, 18; cf. Deuteronomy: 7,18; 1 Chronicles 16:10, 31; Psalm 40:16; Luke 10:20; John 16:22; Romans 5:1-5; Philippians 4:4; Colossians 1:24; 1 Peter 1:26, 4:13). Not about everything but in all circumstances, Paul says. This is important. This is because of the faith that we have that with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26; Mark 10:27). We know that the war is already won (1 Corinthians 15; 1 John 5:4). Nothing that happens here on earth, in our lives, can change the Salvation that has already been provided through our Lord. Nothing: the only question is whether we will take advantage of it, whether we will experience it or not!

I think of a particular Salvation Army funeral a couple of years ago: when Major Neil Voice received his promotion to glory I heard that indeed his memorial service was a real celebration with a full brass band and everything! His funeral was a celebration of the fact that he served God well in his life and now he gets to continue doing so for eternity with the Lord. This celebration did not take away at all from the legitimate grief and appropriate laments from those who love him but this kind of celebration is a great example of the hope that we all have in Christ (1 Thessalonians 1:3; 2 Thessalonians 2:16). In The Salvation Army we do refer to one’s passing as a ‘promotion to Glory’ and promotions are good things, aren’t they?  Christ died and rose again so that we all can live for now and forever, if we so choose to accept his invitation; indeed this is something to be joyful about (John 10:10; John 15:15).

Pi 1 = Rejoice Always

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