Lessons From the Epistles to Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians
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Foreword As we consider some epistles of Paul—specifically the books of Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians—there clearly resounds a vital, comprehensive message. Here we recognize our need for a high level of advancement in Christian character as well as to understand key doctrinal truths in preparation for our Lord’s return.These letters were penned nearly 2,000 years ago, yet they are highly relevant for us today. All written within a ten-year span, they each have a powerful message for our times. The epistle to the Philippians shares the apostle’s joy even while imprisoned for the faith; Colossians—also written from prison—unveils a true doctrinal picture of Christianity, and the two epistles to the Thessalonians explain last-day events with unique clarity to souls who were themselves facing persecution.“There are in the world today many who close their eyes to the evidences that Christ has given to warn men of His coming. They seek to quiet all apprehension, while at the same time the signs of the end are rapidly fulfilling, and the world is hastening to the time when the Son of man shall be revealed in the clouds of heaven. Paul teaches that it is sinful to be indifferent to the signs which are to precede the second coming of Christ. Those guilty of this neglect he calls children of the night and of darkness. He encourages the vigilant and watchful with these words: ‘But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.’ ”—The Acts of the Apostles, p. 260.“Just before us is the closing struggle of the great controversy when, with ‘all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness,’ Satan is to work to misrepresent the character of God, that he may ‘seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.’ If there was ever a people in need of constantly increasing light from heaven, it is the people that, in this time of peril, God has called to be the depositaries of His holy law and to vindicate His character before the world. Those to whom has been committed a trust so sacred must be spiritualized, elevated, vitalized, by the truths they profess to believe. Never did the church more sorely need, and never was God more solicitous that she should enjoy, the experience described in Paul’s letter to the Colossians when he wrote: We ‘do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.’ ”—Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, p. 746. [Author’s italics.]May this be our experience!The General Conference Sabbath School Department
