Author: PGC Administrator

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Proverbs

Introduction

Israel understood that the Creator had placed an order in his world that could be discovered. The book of Proverbs captures these lessons in compact, memorable sayings passed down from the wisest among their elders. Many of them are from Solomon, a king renowned for his wisdom (see 1 Kings 4:29-34). These proverbs are especially designed to help younger people avoid common pitfalls and find the path to prosperity, health and security.

After a short section of teaching, wisdom itself, personified as a woman, calls out to the simple and invites them to grow in knowledge. This section ends by presenting two banquets, one hosted by Wisdom and one by Folly, illustrating the essential choice to be made in life. A collection of 375 proverbs of Solomon follows, reflecting the numerical value of his name in Hebrew. (Hebrew letters were also used as numbers, so words had a value equal to the sum of their letters.) After some “sayings of the wise,” next is a collection of Solomon’s wisdom compiled by the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah. Here the count is 130, equaling the value of Hezekiah’s name. The book closes with sayings from Agur and Lemuel, ending with a poem whose 22 parts begin with consecutive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The character qualities praised throughout the book are seen in a description of the ideal wife.

This rich book of short, pithy wisdom presents a consistent theme: the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.

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Proverbs 1 (ESV)

¹ The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:

² To know wisdom and instruction,
to understand words of insight,
³ to receive instruction in wise dealing,
in righteousness, justice, and equity;
⁴ to give prudence to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the youth—
⁵ Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
and the one who understands obtain guidance,
⁶ to understand a proverb and a saying,
the words of the wise and their riddles.

⁷ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.

⁸ Hear, my son, your father’s instruction,
and forsake not your mother’s teaching,
⁹ for they are a graceful garland for your head
and pendants for your neck.

REFLECTION:

1. If Psalms focuses on walking with God in prayer and spiritual life, Proverbs focuses on manifesting the truth of God in daily life. Proverbs is not only a collection of good words about life, but also contains spiritual insights gained from life experience. The language of Proverbs is refined and beautiful, full of heavenly wisdom, and can make people put the truth of God into practice everywhere. This book is centred on God. It uses concise and exquisite aphorisms to let people know God’s characteristics, actions, and blessings, and teaches us how to build an intimate relationship with Him in our lives.
2. In this era of technological advancement and advanced information, people are becoming richer in all kinds of knowledge, and their ways of being in the world are becoming smarter, but they lack real wisdom from God. The author teaches us in this chapter that God’s wisdom is far superior to human ingenuity, and it has a lasting and profound impact on all aspects of human life. To obtain the wisdom bestowed by God, the most fundamental beginning is to fear the Lord and obey His words. We must know that everything works for the benefit of those who love God. As children of God, loving and trusting in God should be our highest standards of life. We should regard God’s teachings and laws as more precious than crowns and golden chains, and strive to obey them in our lives, so that we will be protected and blessed by God for a long time.

PRAYER:

Come to God quietly, examine yourself, and ask God to examine yourself. Ask God to remove the pride in your heart, so that you don’t think you are clever and rely on your own ability to do things. Like Solomon, ask God to give you true wisdom so that you take this wisdom from God as the highest rule in your life to guide all actions in your life.

HYMN:

Lay Down My Pride – www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjnF4sC0eqA

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2 Thessalonians 3 (ESV)

Pray for Us
¹ Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, ² and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. ³ But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. ⁴ And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. ⁵ May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.

Warning Against Idleness
⁶ Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. ⁷ For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, ⁸ nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. ⁹ It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. ¹⁰ For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. ¹¹ For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. ¹² Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.

¹³ As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.¹⁴ If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. ¹⁵ Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.

Benediction
¹⁶ Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.

¹⁷ I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the sign of genuineness in every letter of mine; it is the way I write. ¹⁸ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

REFLECTION:

1. Members of the Thessalonian church were refusing to take responsibility. Some had quit working because they thought Jesus would be back any moment and didn’t see any reason to exert themselves. Others relaxed because there were plenty of wealthier members in the church who were always willing to share. Regardless of the reason, Paul was abhorred by such laziness and set the rule: “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat” (v10).
2. How can our laziness affect the work of Christ?
3. When is it hard for you to feel motivated to do the work of your church?
4. Pray that like Paul, you will be a good example to others in your attitude toward work.

PRAYER:

Stay with God for a little longer.  Continue to converse with God and listen to what He wants to tell you.  Then write down any thought and/or prayer in your spiritual journal.

HYMN:

Jesus Paid It All – www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FHwdx5BIvc

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=2Thessalonians+002

2 Thessalonians 2 (ESV)

The Man of Lawlessness
¹ Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, ² not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. ³ Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, ⁴ who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. ⁵ Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? ⁶ And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time.⁷ For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way.⁸ And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. ⁹ The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, ¹⁰ and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. ¹¹ Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, ¹² in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Stand Firm
¹³ But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. ¹⁴ To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁵ So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.

¹⁶ Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, ¹⁷ comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.

REFLECTION:

1. The “man of lawlessness” (v3) points clearly to a person commonly referred to as the anti-Christ. He is introduced in Daniel 9:25-27, and Jesus referred to him in Matthew 24 and Mark 13. He also appears in books such as Revelation. Here, Paul describes this anti-Christ as “opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God” (v4).
2. Paul advises us that Satan has yet to attack us with the worst he has, and when he does, it will be a fearful time to be alive. However, Paul also promises that God will always be in control.
3. The Thessalonian church was facing persecution, false teaching, secularization and various uncertainties. Therefore, Paul wanted the Thessalonian believers to know that accepting Christ and salvation is only the beginning of one’s spiritual life.  He encouraged them to “stand firm” and hold fast to God’s teaching.
4. What potential threats to the safety of the world do you see right now (for example, attitudes, weapon building, warfare, diseases, crimes, and so on)? What personal fears or concerns do you have about that?
5. Talk openly with God about any fears or concerns you have regarding the future.

PRAYER:

Stay with God for a little longer.  Continue to converse with God and listen to what He wants to tell you.  Then write down any thought and/or prayer in your spiritual journal.

HYMN:

Whom Shall I Fear – www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0gu0nOaFsI

Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=2Thessalonians+001

2 THESSALONIANS

INTRODUCTION

Apparently only shortly after writing his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul had to write again to correct a false report that he had said the day of the Lord had already come. The day of the Lord was a phrase from the Hebrew prophets to describe God’s key victory over every opponent, when his faithful ones would be rewarded. The Thessalonians’ concern seems to have been not that the day had come and gone and they had missed it, but that it was now present. That would mean nothing more was to be expected from God in terms of setting things right. Since they continued to suffer persecutions, this was a depressing prospect.

Even before he contradicts this false report, Paul reassures the Thessalonians that God will indeed pay back all those who were troubling them. He reminds them of the details he had discussed with them in person of how the day of the Lord would arrive. He then repeats some instruction from his earlier letter, urging them not to be idle but to work hard and earn their own livings.

At the end of the letter, most of which would have been written by a scribe, Paul adds a greeting in his own handwriting. He wants them to know for sure this teaching is really coming from him!

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2 Thessalonians 1 (ESV)

Greeting
¹ Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

² Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving

³ We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.⁴ Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.

The Judgment at Christ’s Coming

⁵ This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— ⁶ since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, ⁷ and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels ⁸ in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ⁹ They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, ¹⁰ when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.¹¹ To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, ¹² 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.

REFLECTION:

1. Some people want to think of God as being “nice”. Much too nice to get angry at people, and much too nice to punish sin. The truth is that the idea of “nice” as we understand it is not found in the Bible. This passage talks about Jesus coming “with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God” (vv7-8).  And they will “suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord” (v9). The justice of God is displayed in two ways. One is by “repaying” those who do evil (v6). The other is by taking on Himself the punishment due those who do evil. This has already happened on Calvary.
2. Spend a few moments to meditate on the enormity of God’s love in sacrificing Jesus to save you!! Say a word of thanksgiving to God.
3. Think of the non-believing family members and friends. Think of one or more that you will FAITHFULLY pray for their salvation.

PRAYER:

Stay with God for a little longer.  Continue to converse with God and listen to what He wants to tell you.  Then write down any thought and/or prayer in your spiritual journal.

HYMN:

Our God Saves – www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUOgVl0KuFI