Prayer

I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope (Psalm 16:8-9). God our Father, we have come today with hearts that are glad and full of joy at knowing Thee. We ask that You might prepare our hearts to be receptive to Thy Word. may you cause each within our family to be blameless and holy when we see Your Son face to face.

Today’s Hymn

Words: The Psalter, 1912. Music: Redhead, Richard Redhead, Church Hymn Tunes, Ancient and Modern (London: 1853).

GOD, BE MERCIFUL TO ME
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God, be merciful to me,
On Thy grace I rest my plea;
Plenteous in compassion Thou,
Blot out my transgressions now;
Wash me, make me pure within,
Cleanse, O cleanse me from my sin.

My transgressions I confess,
Grief and guilt my soul oppress;
I have sinned against Thy grace
And provoked Thee to Thy face;
I confess Thy judgment just,
Speechless, I Thy mercy trust.

I am evil, born in sin;
Thou desirest truth within.
Thou alone my Savior art,
Teach Thy wisdom to my heart;
Make me pure, Thy grace bestow,
Wash me whiter than the snow.

Broken, humbled to the dust
By Thy wrath and judgment just,
Let my contrite heart rejoice
And in gladness hear Thy voice;
From my sins O hide Thy face,
Blot them out in boundless grace.

Gracious God, my heart renew,
Make my spirit right and true;
Cast me not away from Thee,
Let Thy Spirit dwell in me;
Thy salvation’s joy impart,
Steadfast make my willing heart.

Sinners then shall learn from me
And return, O God, to Thee;
Savior, all my guilt remove,
And my tongue shall sing Thy love;
Touch my silent lips, O Lord,
And my mouth shall praise accord.

Thought Provoker

When is the last time your family stopped everything and prayed for your local church? What type of prayers should you offer together on behalf of your church family? Although you should pray for the unique problems and needs of your congregation you can learn much about how to pray for your church from the prayers of the apostle Paul. Paul spent much of his ministry praying for churches (1 Thessalonians 3:10; Ephesians 1:15- 23; Romans 15:14-33; 2 Thessalonians 1:1-12; Colossians 1:9-14). Here is a prayer from 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 that will help you today to pray effectively for your church.

Dad’s Study

Read together Paul’s prayer in vs. 9-13 and discuss how Paul prayed for the church at Thessalonica.

1. A Prayer of Thanksgiving (v. 9). Paul is encouraging the Christians of Thessalonica by thanking God for His work of grace in their lives. Bow as a family today, thanking God for His work of grace in your church family. Thank Him for your pastor and church leaders. Thank Him for individual saints who make up your church. You can encourage these saints by letting them know that you have been thanking God for them in your family prayers.

2. A Prayer of Fervency (v.10a). Paul prayed for this church day and night. This does not mean that he prayed twice a day, rather that he prayed for the Thessalonians as a regular part of his prayer life. He prayed faithfully and persistently for the needs of this church. Make prayer for your church a regular part of your personal and family worship.

3. A Prayer to Help Others Grow in Grace (v. 10b). Paul asked that God might increase the faith of the saints at Thessalonica. Notice that Paul added to his prayer that God might allow him to go and personally help meet that need in their spiritual lives. Pray for your church with a mindset of service. When you pray for believers with needs be active in helping meet those needs. Discuss some ways as a family that God could use you as you pray for others to grow in their faith.

4. A Prayer for Abounding Love (v. 12). What a great prayer! Paul prayed that God might enlarge the love of the saints at Thessalonica. There isn’t a local church anywhere today that doesn’t need to abound more in their love for God, His people, and their neighbors. W. A. Carson rightly observes, …we will see profound spiritual renovation if by God’s grace we make it our commitment not to put anyone down- except on our prayer list (Carson, A Call to Spiritual Reformation, p. 93).

5. A Prayer for Holiness (v. 13). Paul asks God to strengthen the hearts of the saints so that they would be blameless and holy when Christ returns. There is no more important prayer that you can pray for your church than this: that God would do all to make you a holy people. Here is a prayer that you can pray for daily until Christ returns for His church!

Click here for Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

Truth in Practice

Bow together as a family today and pray for your church family. Open your prayer be giving thanks and asking God to cause you to abound in His love and holiness! Make a list of special needs facing your church family and intercede for them before the throne of grace. Encourage individuals in your church by letting them know that you thanked God for them this week!

Catechism

Question 25

Q. How does Christ execute the office of a king?

A. Christ executes the office of a king in subduing us to himself (Psalm 110:3), in ruling and defending us (Matthew 2:6, 1 Corinthians 15:25) and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.

Prayer

I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways. I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word (Psalm 119:15-16). Father in heaven, we thank You this day for wonderfully declaring to us Your holy Word. may You create in each of us a thirst for truth and a hunger for obedience.

Today’s Hymn

Words: Robert Grant, in Christian Psalmody, by Edward H. Bickersteth, 1833, alt. This version is a reworking of lyrics by William Kethe in the Genevan Psalter of 1561.

O WORSHIP THE KING
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O worship the King, all glorious above,
O gratefully sing His power and His love;
Our Shield and Defender, the Ancient of Days,
Pavilioned in splendor, and girded with praise.

O tell of His might, O sing of His grace,
Whose robe is the light, whose canopy space,
His chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds form,
And dark is His path on the wings of the storm.

The earth with its store of wonders untold,
Almighty, Thy power hath founded of old;
Established it fast by a changeless decree,
And round it hath cast, like a mantle, the sea.

Thy bountiful care, what tongue can recite?
It breathes in the air, it shines in the light;
It streams from the hills, it descends to the plain,
And sweetly distills in the dew and the rain.

Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail,
In Thee do we trust, nor find Thee to fail;
Thy mercies how tender, how firm to the end,
Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend.

O measureless might! Ineffable love!
While angels delight to worship Thee above,
The humbler creation, though feeble their lays,
With true adoration shall all sing Thy praise.

Thought Provoker

Imagine a small army unit of five men that are under siege by a powerful enemy. Their commanding officer calls his troops together and tells them that each man can have the weapon of his choice to fight the enemy. He opens a box filled with everything from machine guns to comic books. The first man decides that he is bored with war and takes a comic book. The second man takes a box of candy, thinking that he can share it with the enemy and win him over. The third man wants to drown his pain from war and reaches for a Walkman that he quickly plugs into his ears. The fourth man grabs for the book marked Psychology, reasoning that if he can know the mind of the enemy he can outsmart him. The last man takes the machinegun and a box of bullets. Which one of the men will stand the strongest against the enemy? Hopefully you picked the man with the machinegun. Why such an absurd parable? Because it seems to accurately depict the nature of the church today. We are faced with the enemies of the flesh, the world, and Satan. These are powerful enemies that will settle for nothing less than the eternal destruction of your soul. God has graced you with the weapon of His holy Word which, when empowered by the Holy Spirit, can defeat every one of your enemies and produce eternal life. What weapons are many professing Christians picking up today to fight these enemies? The trend today is to turn away from the sufficiency of the powerful Word of God alone and turn instead to such powerless weapons as entertainment, psychology, pragmatism, philosophy, and politics. Today in verse 13, Paul is thanking the Thessalonians for being a church that turned to the Word of God alone for their salvation.

Dad’s Study

One of the greatest blessings for a pastor or Bible teacher is to have a spiritual flock that receives and comes under the authority of God’s Word. Paul, the missionary, stops in chapter 2 to give thanks to God that the Thessalonians were that kind of church.

Paul Preached. It is clear from verse 3 that Paul preached the Word which the Thessalonians heard (Acts 17:2). Paul preached the Gospel in Thessalonica on his missionary journey that also included Philippi (Acts 15:40-16:10). As we saw in 1 Corinthians, the preaching of the Gospel is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:23-24). Strong doctrinal expository preaching of the Word of God is rapidly vanishing from the landscape of today’s church. Instead, it is being replaced with standup comedy, entertainment, and light fluffy tales that tickle the listener’s ears. Thank God today if your church faithfully and uncompromisingly preaches and teaches God’s Word. It is the very power of God that brings salvation. It is for this very reason that we have resisted the temptation of making the Daily Doorstep a verse, a story, and a daily pat on the back. If there is truly going to be salvation and growth in grace in our families it will only come from the teaching of the whole counsel of God’s Word.

Thessalonians Received. God graced the Thessalonians with spiritual ears so that they could receive the Word of God. They heard, God gave understanding and applied it to their hearts. They received Paul’s preaching as:

1. Word of God. As an Apostle, Paul, through the inspiration of God, penned the Word of God. All of the Pauline epistles are God’s Word. When a man, called by God, stands up and preaches, he is declaring the Word of God. He becomes God’s mouthpiece. The church at Thessalonica realized that the words they were hearing were not Paul’s Words rather God’s Word. They knew that they were not hearing earthly wisdom but the wisdom from God. This should be your attitude when you hear the Word preached each Lord’s day. Yes, it is your pastor standing in the pulpit, but he is standing there speaking the very Word of God!

2. Word that Works. It is the means of the Word that God works in your life. It is by means of the Word that God brings faith. It is by means of the Word that God produces holiness! Where the Word of God is received with obedient faith, the power of God is at work.

Click here for Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

Truth in Practice

What weapons are you choosing to fight the mighty foes of this world?

• may you graciously grab for the Word of God.
• may you gather whenever it is preached.
• may you be faithful in teaching it to your family.
• may your family be faithful in receiving it.
• may you open your ears and receive it when it is preached and taught.
• may you hunger to obey it.
• may God produce a wonderful work of grace in each of your hearts through His Word!

Catechism

Question 24

Q. How does Christ execute the office of a priest?

A. Christ executes the office of a priest, in his once offering up himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice (Hebrews 9:28), and to reconcile us to God (Hebrews 2:17) and in making continual intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25).

Prayer

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me (Psalm 51:10). Heavenly Father, lead us into the pathway of purity. Help us to crucify the lustful passions of the flesh and glorify Thee in our bodies of clay!

Today’s Hymn

Words: Attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux, 1153 (Salve caput cruentatum); translated from Latin to German by Paul Ger­hardt, 1656 (O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden), and from Latin to English James W. Alexander, 1830.

O SACRED HEAD, NOW WOUNDED
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O sacred Head, now wounded, with grief and shame weighed down,
Now scornfully surrounded with thorns, Thine only crown;
O sacred Head, what glory, what bliss till now was Thine!
Yet, though despised and gory, I joy to call Thee mine.

What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered, was all for sinners’ gain;
Mine, mine was the transgression, but Thine the deadly pain.
Lo, here I fall, my Savior! ‘Tis I deserve Thy place;
Look on me with Thy favor, vouchsafe to me Thy grace.

Men mock and taunt and jeer Thee, Thou noble countenance,
Though mighty worlds shall fear Thee and flee before Thy glance.
How art thou pale with anguish, with sore abuse and scorn!
How doth Thy visage languish that once was bright as morn!

Now from Thy cheeks has vanished their color once so fair;
From Thy red lips is banished the splendor that was there.
Grim death, with cruel rigor, hath robbed Thee of Thy life;
Thus Thou hast lost Thy vigor, Thy strength in this sad strife.

My burden in Thy Passion, Lord, Thou hast borne for me,
For it was my transgression which brought this woe on Thee.
I cast me down before Thee, wrath were my rightful lot;
Have mercy, I implore Thee; Redeemer, spurn me not!

What language shall I borrow to thank Thee, dearest friend,
For this Thy dying sorrow, Thy pity without end?
O make me Thine forever, and should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never outlive my love to Thee.

My Shepherd, now receive me; my Guardian, own me Thine.
Great blessings Thou didst give me, O source of gifts divine.
Thy lips have often fed me with words of truth and love;
Thy Spirit oft hath led me to heavenly joys above.

Here I will stand beside Thee, from Thee I will not part;
O Savior, do not chide me! When breaks Thy loving heart,
When soul and body languish in death’s cold, cruel grasp,
Then, in Thy deepest anguish, Thee in mine arms I’ll clasp.

The joy can never be spoken, above all joys beside,
When in Thy body broken I thus with safety hide.
O Lord of Life, desiring Thy glory now to see,
Beside Thy cross expiring, I’d breathe my soul to Thee.

My Savior, be Thou near me when death is at my door;
Then let Thy presence cheer me, forsake me nevermore!
When soul and body languish, oh, leave me not alone,
But take away mine anguish by virtue of Thine own!

Be Thou my consolation, my shield when I must die;
Remind me of Thy passion when my last hour draws nigh.
Mine eyes shall then behold Thee, upon Thy cross shall dwell,
My heart by faith enfolds Thee. Who dieth thus dies well.

Thought Provoker

I read a news story today that reminded me how much things have changed since I attended college over 30 years ago. The article reported that the living quarters of more and more colleges are going co-ed. At Hampshire College in Massachusetts the incoming freshmen are offered coed rooms. At Haverford College, a Quaker-founded liberal arts college outside of Philadelphia, the students will be sharing coed bathrooms. Sexual purity and propriety are things of the past. The following statistics reveal that chastity is something to be avoided rather than maintained.

• 68% of eighteen-year-olds have experienced intimacy outside of marriage. *

• Each year 1 million teenagers -10% of all women 15-18 years old become pregnant out of wedlock. **

*Sources: 1995 National Survey of Family Growth and 1995 National Survey of Adolescent Males.

**AGI, Teenage pregnancy: overall trends and state- by- state information, New York: AGI, 1999, Table 1; and Henshaw SK, U.S. Teenage pregnancy statistics with comparative statistics for women aged 20- 24, New York: AGI, 1999, p. 5.

The pressures of the world on our children to compromise their purity are tremendous. Movies, television, peers, Internet, and magazines all have a single message that does not lead to Godliness. Although the media and technology have changed, we can see from today’s passage that the heart of man does not, nor does the perfect will of God. Today’s passage is a practical one. It reminds us that this is a topic that must not be shied away from within the home. Godly parents should teach their children sexual purity with God’s Word as the standard rather than the low ideals of contemporary society.

Dad’s Study

Many professing Christians wrestle to know the will of God. Here is a clear statement of His will: that you abstain from fornication (v. 3). Fornication comes from the Greek word from which we get our English word, pornography. It is sexual impurity in all of it various expressions. Paul is reminding you that all such conduct is in opposition to the sanctification that God is working in true believers.

• It is God’s will that you abstain from pornography.
• It is God’s will that you abstain from adultery.
• It is God’s will that you abstain from premarital sexual intimacy.
• It is God’s will that you abstain from premarital petting.
• It is God’s will that you abstain from homosexual conduct.

Paul goes on in verse 4 to exhort you to keep your bodies (vessels) pure in order to bring honor to your body and therefore God. Discuss with your family some practical ways that God would have you keep your body pure.

The pursuit for holiness does not come without a battle. Verse 5 serves as a reminder that in your flesh are lustful passions that the natural man is not able to control. These passions are a mastering desire within each to forsake purity and indulge in sexual impurity. However, as Christians, we do not have to yield to these lustful desires. We are no longer slaves to sin. God has given us heavenly resources to rule over the lustful desires of our body. Discuss ways you can strengthen your inner man to enable you to rule over your lustful desires. Paul instructs you to exercise yourself unto Godliness (1 Timothy 4:7). Proper exercise includes immersing yourself in God’s Word and prayer, fleeing temptation, and starving the flesh.

Paul closes this passage with four motivations to be pure.

1. Impurity not only violates you but defrauds another. Adultery violates another’s spouse. Intimacy before marriage robs another’s virginity thus defrauding a future spouse (v. 6a).

2. God will punish the sinner (v. 6b). God is an Avenger who will bring judgment upon the fornicator. There are many that experience the pain of this sin in this life through broken hearts and STDs. All will one day stand before the judgment seat of Christ and give an account for what was done in this life.

3. Impurity contradicts the character of the Christian life (v. 7). The character of those who follow Christ is Christlikeness. The mark of God’s elect is purity and holiness. God has called us to be holy.

4. Impurity is a sin against the Holy Spirit (v. 8). Impurity is not to be taken lightly. Purity is not some man-made rule. Impurity is a sin against the living presence of God!

Click here for Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

Truth in Practice

may the grace of God bring purity to your family as you:

• Teach and discipline your children based on God’s standard of purity.
• Model God’s standard of purity.
• Do all you can to spiritually strengthen the hearts of your family through prayer, the Word, and fellowship with the saints.
• With God’s help maintain a climate of purity in the home. Provide family filters for the Internet. We have chosen to use Clean Internet http://www.cleaninter.net, which cannot be disarmed. Remove the impure influence of television through self-regulation or removal. Teach your children the virtues of Biblical courtship vs. recreational dating.

Catechism

Question 26

Q. Wherein did Christ’s humiliation consist?

A. Christ’s humiliation consisted in his being born, and that in a low condition (Luke 2:7) made under the law (Galatians 4:4), undergoing the miseries of this life (Isaiah 53:3), the wrath of God (Matthew 27:46), and the cursed death of the cross (Philippians 2:8); in being buried, and continuing under the power of death for a time (Matthew 12:40).

O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off (Psalm 129:1- 2).

Today’s Hymn

Words: Isaac Watts, cir­ca 1688.

In a lengthy discussion with his father, Isaac argued that singing only the Psalms in church made them miss much important New Testament truth. Once his congregation was convinced of what Isaac was saying, he began turning out a new hymn a week. But this one is the very first, making the words “Prepare new honors for His Name, and songs before unknown” especially meaningful. This hymn also reveals Watts’ amazing breadth of biblical knowledge (he was only a teenager at the time); there are allusions to many Scripture passages.

BEHOLD THE GLORIES OF THE LAMB
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Behold the glories of the Lamb
Amidst His Father’s throne.
Prepare new honors for His Name,
And songs before unknown.

Let elders worship at His feet,
The Church adore around,
With vials full of odors sweet,
And harps of sweeter sound.

Those are the prayers of the saints,
And these the hymns they raise;
Jesus is kind to our complaints,
He loves to hear our praise.

Eternal Father, who shall look
Into Thy secret will?
Who but the Son should take that Book
And open every seal?

He shall fulfill Thy great decrees,
The Son deserves it well;
Lo, in His hand the sovereign keys
Of Heav’n, and death, and hell!

Now to the Lamb that once was slain
Be endless blessings paid;
Salvation, glory, joy remain
Forever on Thy head.

Thou hast redeemed our souls with blood,
Hast set the prisoner free;
Hast made us kings and priests to God,
And we shall reign with Thee.

The worlds of nature and of grace
Are put beneath Thy power;
Then shorten these delaying days,
And bring the promised hour.

Thought Provoker

The Church has always been bound together in unity, one body with one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father (Ephesians 4:5, 6), yet, each local body of Christ is not exactly like any other; each has its own unique differences. Some differences are caused by culture and custom, some by different choices in the exercise of liberty, yet each may be within the bounds of Christian liberty and thus obedient and glorifying to God. So what would the marks of an exemplary church be? Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 1.

Dad’s Study

Paul rejoices over the Thessalonian church because of the manifest evidence of their divine election and the powerful and exemplary effects upon their hearts and lives.

Evidence of Divine Election:

1. Works of faith (verse 3)

Their faith was manifest and evident by the works of faith that accompanied it. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works (James 2:18).

2. Labor of love (verse 3)

They labored in love toward one another and all men to the point that the report of their love spread beyond Thessalonica. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another (John 13:35).

3. Steadfastness of hope (verse 3)

They patiently waited upon the Lord in hope, receiving the word in tribulation (verse 6) bearing trial and affliction to the glory of God. Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer (Rom 12:12).

4. Chosen of God (verse 4)

Paul knew they were God’s elect by the faith, hope, and love (charity) manifested in their lives. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity (1 Corinthians 13:13).

Click here for Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

Truth in Practice

Effects of Divine Election:

1. Powerful conviction (verse 5)

They received the word amidst tribulations (verse 6), were powerfully convicted of their sin and turned to God, receiving the word as the word of God, not men. For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe (1 Th. 2:13).

2. Imitators of Christ (verse 6)

They became imitators of the Apostle, as he was an imitator of Christ. Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1).

3. Joyful in the Holy Spirit (verse 6)

They were joyful amidst tribulation, counting it as a blessing to fill up the sufferings of Christ. My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience (James 1:2,3).

4. Example to all believers (verse 7)

Their walk of faith, laboring in love for one another and patient endurance while waiting hopefully had set an example for believers from literally mile around. Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity (1 Timothy 4:12).

Catechism

Question 23

Q. How does Christ execute the office of a prophet?

A. Christ executes the office of a prophet, in revealing to us (John 1:18), by his Word (John 20:31), and Spirit (John 14:26), the will of God for our salvation.