1 THESSALONIANS 5:12-282007 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2007. This morning we're finishing off chapter 5 of 1 Thessalonians. There's something I want to point out and spend just a few moments on before we get into the word together in this.

And that is the word brethren. Paul uses that word brethren five times in our passage this morning. He uses it altogether in this epistle, the book of First Thessalonians, 16 times.

In all of his letters throughout the New Testament, it's about 80 times that he uses this word brethren. And I take this moment to point it out so that you would remember that you would be reminded that this letter is not to a particular person.

It's not to a particular pastor or leader within the church, but this letter that Paul is writing is to the brethren. Not like 1 Timothy or 2 Timothy or the book of Titus or the book of Philemon, which are written to individuals, specific people, pastors of churches, those who are called to lead and deal with situations.

This book, like many of the other epistles, was written to the entire body of Christ that was gathered together in Thessalonica. It's to the brethren, to the whole body.

This passage this morning, Paul mentions it a few times, and I think it's important and significant that we remember this is you, the body of Christ. This is me and you together as part of the family of God. The word brethren refers to the whole church, the whole gathering of believers. As Paul used it in his epistles, it reminds us and really highlights the fact that we are a family together.

We are brothers and sisters in the Lord. Throughout the New Testament, we have different pictures of the church. We have the body of Christ, and there's many lessons to be learned from that.

But it's also important to remember that we also are the family of God. And God has brought us together, this church, Calvary Chapel Living Water, he has brought us together as a family. If Paul was writing to us, he could refer to us as the brethren. That we are the family of God, brothers and sisters in the Lord, that God has gathered to this place to be part of his work and to receive all that he has in store for us.

And I think it's so interesting that in closing here, Paul is giving responsibilities to the brethren. He's urging them, he's exhorting them to do some particular things and take care of situations within the church. It's a common misconception that the pastor is supposed to do all of the work of ministry.

That's not the biblical role of the pastor. Ephesians chapter 4 verses 11 and 12 tell us that Jesus gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. For what purpose? For the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry. Jesus gave these roles, these authorities to the church.

To equip the saints, the brethren, you, the body of Christ for the work of ministry, that you might accomplish the ministry, that you might do the ministry. Later on there in Ephesians 4, verse 16, Paul emphasizes that the body grows. The body is effective as every part does its share, that every part is vital and necessary.

This morning, I want to remind you that you are part of this family. And as a part of this family, there's responsibilities that you have. And so I would like to join Paul in encouraging you to take care of your responsibilities as part of this family. There's five responsibilities.

The responsibilities of us, of the brethren, as part of this family that we'll look at this morning. Number one, the responsibility is to love your leaders. Number two, to minister to others. Number three, to pursue what's good. Number four, to do God's will. And number five, to be spirit led.

These five things we'll see as we continue our study here in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. And we see the first one in verses 12 and 13. It says this, And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their works' sake. Be at peace among yourselves.

Paul starts out here dealing with the way that you are to relate to those who are in leadership, to the leaders that God has given to the church. And he says that you're to love them. You're, in fact, to esteem them very highly in love as a part of a family, as a part of this family. You have the responsibility to love those who are leaders in the body of Christ.

Now, I share this with you not for any personal benefit. I'm sharing this passage with you just like I share any other passage. The statistics say that you will spend an average of three years in a particular church, and then you'll move on to a different place. And that, in general, is a fairly accurate statistic. There's some that stay for much longer, there's some that stay for much shorter, and it averages out.

And so wherever you go, wherever the Lord takes you or wherever the Lord takes me, I need to share with you. It's my responsibility to give to you the whole counsel of God and let you know your responsibility as a part of the family of God, as a part of the body of Christ is to highly esteem and love the leaders that God gives to you, whether it be it here at this place or somewhere else.

I like that Paul adds the phrase for their works sake. You're to love them and esteem them very highly in love for their works sake. Because you may not agree necessarily with the style of a pastor or a particular leader. You may not be too excited about the illustrations that they choose to use. You may not agree with every decision that a person makes. Your personalities may not mesh well together necessarily.

But Paul doesn't say esteem them very highly in love because they're your best friend or because you're really close to them. But no, esteem them very highly in love because of the work that they do for the Lord, because of what God has called them to do and the role that he has given to them. Love them, Paul says, for their works sake.

And he gives us three important notes about spiritual leadership, which I think are so important. I very seriously consider just spending our entire time this morning in these two verses because I really do believe these are so important. But we're just going to look at them and I would encourage you to meditate on them and continue to allow the Lord to speak to your heart in these areas. But three things that we need to take note of about spiritual leadership are

We find it here in verse 12. We urge you, brethren. Who's it to? It's to the brethren. This is to you, the body of Christ. This is your responsibility. Recognize those who labor. The first thing I want to point out is among you. Those who labor among you. He also says those who are over you. That's the second thing. There are those who labor among you, who are over you. And thirdly, who admonish you among you.

What does that mean? What is Paul talking about here? Even though there is authority and structure within the body, we must never forget that our spiritual leaders are among us. They're among us. In other words, spiritual leaders are not superhuman, nor are they faultless, nor are they at some unattainable level of spiritual understanding. To be a spiritual leader doesn't mean that you're the most godly.

It doesn't mean that you know the Bible the best. It doesn't mean that you have better access to God. It doesn't mean that their prayers work better than yours. No, we all have the same access to God. Authority is given by God. It's a calling. He appoints those as leaders within the church, within the body, within the family. But they're those who are among us, the family of God.

We're all part of the body of Christ. Each one of us is vital and important. The leader is not more important than anybody else. Paul makes that clear in 1 Corinthians 12, that God has arranged the body so that every part is important. Every part is vital. This is important to remember because there can develop in churches a sense that the pastor is really unapproachable.

unattainable, unaccessible. There can develop within pastors and leaders the attitude of separation and distinction, of segregation perhaps. Sometimes pastors and leaders, they have the mentality, you know, I'm too busy for the people. I'm too busy doing the Lord's work that I can't spend time with the people. And there's this distinction, us and the people.

But Paul says, no, those who are in leadership are those who are among you. There's not a separation and distinction. There's not these levels of royalty like we could relate to in government or in business, perhaps. This is not a corporation and the CEO is inaccessible to you. No, it's really the other way around. See, God doesn't give a church to a pastor.

He gives a pastor to the church. The pastor's job, the job of spiritual leaders and leaders within ministries and families and bodies like we have here, their job is the people. Their job is to minister to the people. But oftentimes there's this attitude of we're too busy doing the work of the Lord. No, the work of the Lord is the people. And sometimes the people, the body, begin to have the attitude and say,

Think that, well, he's too busy for me. You know, I don't want to bother this person. I don't want to interrupt them. They've got a lot of things going on. Understand the role of leadership is for the people.

There's authority, and we'll talk about that in just a moment, but there's also the sense that you need to understand that those who are spiritual leaders are among you. We have the same struggles, the same issues, the same faults. We go through similar things in life. We have the same areas where God is growing us and stretching us and challenging us. There's times we need to be rebuked.

There's times that we need to be corrected. There's times of great growth and wonderful things. And there's times of great discouragement and difficult things. We're among you. The leaders in any spiritual realm, they're among you. They're called to be among you. They're called to minister to the rest of the family. You know, if you think about it as a family, you can relate it perhaps to your family, your mom or perhaps your dad.

There is authority, but they're also part of the family. They're busy, just like everybody's busy. There's lots of things to do, but we're to make time for our family and to spend time with the family. If a family is so preoccupied with the job and perhaps additional schooling or other things that it doesn't spend time together, well, that's why we see so many families breaking apart.

Because they're not a family. They're just a bunch of people doing a bunch of different things that happen to live at the same address. No, a family is united together and spends time together. And I want to share with you personally, please never think that I'm unapproachable or too busy for you. Pastor Pule, Pastor Cisco, myself, the ministry leaders here,

That's what we're here for. Our job is to minister to you. We're among you. We have struggles just like you, but we're here to serve you. Now, none of us can meet everybody's needs and we'll do the best we can to keep our priorities that God has given to us and minister to our family, minister to the Lord, minister as you have need as well. But never, never feel that I'm unapproachable. I hear it from the back door all the time.

So and so is talking about this and I wonder, why don't they just come to me? Why don't they just ask? Why don't they just come and share their heart with me? And I know because it just is natural within us. We get this sense. He's too busy. Listen, I keep my door open in my office at all times unless I'm personally one-on-one with someone because I want you to know, come on in. You have a need? You need prayer? You want to talk about something? That's what I'm here for. You're not interrupting me.

I'm about the Lord's business and you're not going to interrupt God. He's ready for you. He's available for you. And he's put me here so that I might be available for you as well. If you feel that you need to get a hold of the leadership here or anywhere else that you're a part of, that God calls you to be, then do so. Here's some numbers you can write down. My home, 340-0016. Call me. My cell, 264-4506. My email address, jerrysimmons at calvichapel.com.

Your leaders, those who God has called to leadership, they are among you. I think it's important to remember that, to consider that. Also important to remember, Paul says, is that they're over you in the Lord. Not only are they among you, but they're also over you, which can make for difficult circumstances sometimes and difficult to remember the different roles and the relationships that we have. But there needs to be the understanding in you

That there is authority. There's the balance. The spiritual leaders are called to be among you, but they're also over you in the Lord, Paul says. Even though your leaders are among you, there is the reality of authority that God has given. And it can be a tough balance to maintain, but it needs to be there. Both sides need to be there. Not only are spiritual leaders among you, but they're over you. And so you need to recognize that so that you can be submitted to

To the spiritual authorities that are in your life that God has given to you. Hebrews chapter 13, verse 17. The author of Hebrews says, obey those who rule over you and be submissive for they watch out for your souls as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable to you. This verse is not just talking about submission.

governmental authorities or leaders. But earlier in Hebrews 13, 7, the author there said, those who rule over you and share the word of God with you, those are the ones you are to honor. And so Paul is dealing with authority of all types, but specifically here we're talking about spiritual authority. He says, obey those who rule over you and be submissive. Why? Because

He says, because they watch out for your souls as those who must give account. Be submitted to them. Listen to their instruction. Heed their counsel. Because they watch over you, knowing that they have to give an account to God for how they ministered, how they instructed, and how they counseled.

You know, we can listen to a lot of people in our lives. There's a lot of sources for input, for counsel, for encouragement, for direction. But the point here is that your spiritual leaders will give an account to God for their leadership. Who would you rather receive from? Someone who has no accountability whatsoever for the counsel, encouragement, instruction they give you? Or someone who has the understanding, I will have to give an account to God if I receive

led you astray, if I gave you bad counsel, bad encouragement, they watch out for you, Paul says, as those who must give an account. The instruction that they give, the encouragement that they give, the counsel, the warnings, the correction, they will give an account to it of God. And others may not have that sense or understanding. It doesn't mean that we don't receive from others and others aren't able to minister to us. But Paul says, especially so with those who are over you.

Be submitted to them. They watch over you as those who must give an account. You need to receive from them. They're among you. They're over you. There is real authority there. And they also admonish you, Paul says. It's the final point on spiritual leaders. And it's an important point because we all need to be admonished. This word admonish means to warn, to exhort, or to rebuke. Every one of us need to be warned.

Exhorted, corrected from time to time. God has given spiritual leaders to us to do this in our lives. And of course, they do it using the word of God. Second Timothy chapter three, verses 16 and 17 tell us that the word of God is inspired by God to do just that.

It's useful for doctrine, to know what we believe, but it's also useful for correction, for instruction, for training in righteousness. The word of God is how we admonish one another. It's how the spiritual leaders in our lives admonish us. These leaders that God has given to us, they're among us, they're over us, they admonish us, and we're to love them and esteem them very highly for their work's sake.

Because they're giving of themselves to serve the Lord and minister to us. And Paul ends verse 13 saying, Be at peace among yourselves. Referring to you and your spiritual leaders. Be at peace. Have peace between you and your spiritual leaders. If there's not peace, then make peace. Because they watch out for your soul as those who must give an account. They're looking out for you. They care about you. And they will give an account to God for you.

So your first responsibility, Paul shares, as a part of this family is to love your leaders, love those that God has given to you to speak his word into your life. Esteem them very highly. Be at peace with them, Paul says. The second thing Paul encourages us in, the responsibility that we have as a part of this family is to minister faith.

To others or to one another. To minister to others. Verse 14. Paul says, Again, notice that he emphasizes brethren. He just finished speaking about spiritual authorities and how we're to love them and esteem them highly. And as he goes on to deal with these other types of people, he says,

He brings it back to remind us, to make sure that it's clear. This is a message to the brethren. It's not just the pastor's job. It's not just for the leadership. You, you are part of the body of Christ. You are part of this family and you are called to do these things. See, sometimes conversations take place like this, or perhaps a person will think this to themselves, looking around, thinking,

seeing someone else within the body, they'll think, you know, that person is really hurting. Why don't they do something? It doesn't seem that they're really reaching out the way that they should and ministering to that person. It doesn't seem really that they notice that person at all. Why don't they pay more attention to this person who is hurting? Another person might think, you know, people just seem to fall through the cracks here in this place.

Why don't they do a better job of following up on people that aren't here? Why don't they do a better job to encourage those who have left, you know, to make sure that they're walking with the Lord and find out how they're doing? Another might say, you know, that person is always causing distractions. Why don't they deal with it? Or any other number of situations that could come up or go through our minds. Why don't they take care of these things? Why don't they deal with this? Why don't they minister and help this person?

Well, here's a newsflash. It's bad grammar, but here it is. They is you. They is you. I know it's bad grammar, but it's okay. It's true. They is you. You are they. When you say they, you know, why don't they do something? Why don't they reach out? Why don't they minister? Why don't they do this? They is you. You are the brethren. You are part of the family. And as part of the family, you have the responsibility to take care of some of these situations.

Just like in your own family, if you walk in the kitchen and a member of your family is there chugging down the milk without a glass, just straight out of the jug, you as a member of the family have the responsibility to make sure they know they are not supposed to be doing that. You can show them where the glasses are in case they have forgotten. Lovingly encourage them, don't do that again.

You'll warn all the rest of the family, hey, he was chugging out of the milk. Don't drink that. We'll go buy a new gallon tomorrow.

You have a responsibility as part of the family to deal with situations within your family. And the same is true spiritually. We are gathered together as a family. We are the brethren, brothers and sisters in the Lord. And you, part of this family, have the responsibility to deal with some of the situations that take place within this family and minister to the people within this family. And that is why it's so important for you to be here and be involved.

See, you don't come to church just to receive. If that's all you come to church for, you're missing out on your responsibilities and all that God has for you. No, you come here because you're a part of this family and you have a responsibility as such to minister to others. Those who are falling through the cracks, those who are hurting, those who... Well, let's look at what Paul says. He gives us three specific examples and then an overarching principle for us.

First of all, you have a responsibility as a member of the family to warn those who are unruly. To warn those who are unruly. This word warn is the same word that is translated admonish in the previous verse. Your leaders, God's given them to you and they admonish you. They warn you. They correct you. They rebuke you using the word of God. The same thing happens.

That God has given you leaders to do in your life. He calls you, brothers and sisters in the Lord, to warn one another. To admonish, to correct, to rebuke. Of course, 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17, again, is the guidelines. And if you cannot use the word in your warning, you should not be warning someone. You can't warn them about your own convictions and some of the things that you don't have liberty to do. But where the Bible speaks clearly.

You are to warn, you're to admonish your brothers and sisters in the Lord. He says, warn those who are unruly. This word unruly, it means disorderly or out of ranks. It was used in the military of a person who wouldn't march in line with everybody else. It's someone who is out of line. Perhaps someone who is causing distractions or stepping out of the place that God has called them. Perhaps overstepping their boundaries.

Paul says, listen, you, the brethren, you have the responsibility. Certainly the leadership has responsibility as well, but they're not the sole ones with the responsibility. God has brought it to your attention. You see the need. You see the situation that calls for warning, for admonishment. Establish it in the word of God. Make sure that foundation is there. Check your own heart and warn.

Those who are unruly when those who are out of line, it's your responsibility, not just those who are called to be leaders within the body. The second thing he says is to comfort the faint hearted, comfort the faint hearted. This word faint hearted, some translations translated as feeble minded, but it has nothing to do with someone who's not smart or anything like that.

I like how Warren Wiersbe relates to them. He calls these people the quitters. These are the people who are faint-hearted. They give up easily. They're discouraged easily. These are the believers who are about to give up or walk away. And oftentimes in our walks, there are great challenges and difficulties. And many who face this walk away. We experience that all the time within the body of Christ.

People fade in, they fade out, they walk with God for a little bit, then they're out of the picture, back in the world, back to their old lifestyle. Then they come back because they need to get right with God, but then they don't last very long and then they go back again or they just give up and quit altogether. Paul says, you, this is your responsibility, brethren, brothers and sisters, you're part of this family. You are to comfort those people.

You're to encourage them. The word means to come alongside. The idea is to help carry the burden, support them and encourage them, help them to keep walking, help them to get involved, help them to be established in their walk. It's your responsibility as part of the family, as part of the body to reach out and minister to the faint hearted. The third area, he says, is uphold the weak.

Uphold the weak. This word uphold means to hold firmly or to cling to, to cling to, to grasp onto and don't let go. You as a member of the family, your responsibility is to hold on to the weak, to not let them go. Those who are weak in the faith, perhaps new Christians or those who have simply refused to grow.

Those perhaps who have become weak in the faith as a result of sin, their life has been shattered. Those who are weak, those who aren't strong spiritually. Paul says you would hold on to that.

Don't sit back and notice someone who's weak and say, well, why don't they do something? Understand the responsibility is yours. You reach out, grasp onto them, hold onto them, support them, keep them up, encourage them, help them in the faith. Cling to them. Don't let them go. Don't let them fall. Don't let them stumble. And the fourth thing he says, be patient with all. This is your responsibility.

Now, these things require some discernment on our part. To discern who is unruly, who is weak, who is faint-hearted. How to deal with individuals within the body. We're to have discernment and understanding and be led by the Lord. But patience, we're to have that towards everyone. It's to be without discrimination. To be patient. You know what be patient means? It means to be long-suffering. How much suffering is that? That's a whole lot of suffering.

to be long suffering. You know, the body of Christ is full of examples of Christians who were short suffering, once offended and offended forever, once hurt and hurt forever, once crossed, never again, breaking the relationship. That's not how we're to be as a family. Long suffering. Put up with those who really irritate you and make you mad, who hurt your feelings. Put up with those who

Be patient and long-suffering with everyone. Again, growing up, I don't know if you had siblings, but I had a sister, and I was a genius at torturing her. She made it so easy. And you learn to push the buttons and aggravate and irritate until things start to fly and stereos are broken, then just sit back and enjoy the fireworks when mom walks in. But you know, my sister didn't then...

Say, forget this and go live next door with the neighbors. She didn't cease to be part of the family. No, she was long suffering. Not because she wanted to be. Not because she was excited about it. But because she had no other choice. And see, that's the thing. If you're part of the family, if you're part of this family, you don't have a choice. You're called here. Be long suffering. Put up with those who irritate you. Put up with those who have offended you.

Forgive like Jesus has forgiven you. Now, if you're called somewhere else, you're free to go somewhere else. And if you go somewhere else, it's an indication you're not part of this family. God hasn't called you here. Either that or you're in rebellion. But if God has called you here, be long-suffering. You're in this family or whatever family God calls you to be a part of. Be long-suffering.

Don't sever the relationship and give up because you've endured some hard things or been hurt. No, be patient with all. Show long-suffering towards all. It's your responsibility as a member of the family. Put up with things for a long time, not a short time. Verse 15 gives us the third responsibility for us. Paul says...

See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all. The third responsibility that we have is to pursue what's good. Pursue what's good. Paul says, see to it, make sure that no one renders evil for evil to anyone. No one renders evil for evil to anyone.

Evil for evil. The idea, the mentality, you did bad to me. You crossed me. You did me wrong. Well, we'll just see if you get away with that. I'll make sure you get what's coming to you. Evil for evil. Paul's warning us here really about trying to accomplish justice on our own and pay back people who have done evil to us.

Of course, we can have a whole huge discussion about justice and when to pursue certain things. But here's the basic principle. We're not to pay back evil for evil. Even if people do evil to us, we're to do good to them and really to all. He says, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all. I'm interested in the number of times that Paul uses the extremes here.

He keeps talking to, you know, about all men and and and all this and all that. And he says no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good, both for yourselves and for all. This is the principle for all the time, for everywhere you are, everywhere you go. You're to pursue what is good, both for yourselves and for all. What is good? That means what's best for someone.

both for yourselves and for all. You're not to just do what's best for you. Sure, you could do a lot of things that are best for you, perhaps, but aren't really that great for those around you or those that you're pursuing. Yeah, they may have taken advantage of you. They may have done evil to you, but you're to do what's best for them. That's what love is. Love does what's best for the person that's loved.

Even if the person that's loved doesn't understand, doesn't ask for, doesn't want the thing that's best for them. Think about Jesus. God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son. Jesus came and died upon the cross for us. Why? Because we asked him to? Because we wanted him to? No, we were enemies with God, the Bible says. He did what was best for us, even though we didn't ask for it, even though we didn't want it, even though at the time we would have been there with him, with the rest of the people spitting in his face and crucifying him.

But he did what's best for us because of his love for us. Hebrews 12 talks about the Lord's chastening in our lives. He does what's best for us. It's not pleasant at the time. We don't want it. We don't ask for it. We'd rather not go through it. But God loves us. And so he does what's best for us. And that's the idea here. Do what's good. Pursue good for yourselves and for all.

Do what's best for those around you, even those who have done you wrong. Luke chapter 6, Jesus says, I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you and pray for those who spitefully use you. Later on in the chapter, Luke chapter 6, Jesus goes, he asks the question, hey, if you love those who love you, what good is that for you? What credit is that to you? If you do good to those who do good to you, what have you gained? Nothing. Nothing.

The rest of the world does that. The worst sinner does that. As Christians, as part of the family, our responsibility is to pursue what is good for ourselves,

but also for others. The fourth responsibility that we have as part of this family is found in verses 16 through 18. It says, Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. The fourth responsibility that we have as a part of this family is to do God's will for

You're responsible to do God's will as a part of the family of God. And here is God's will for you. Again, three things he gives us. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks. We're to rejoice always. Now, this is something that a Christian can do because our joy is Jesus. Our joy is our salvation. Our joy is not based on our current circumstances.

He's not telling us that you're to have joy because all these things are going wrong and you're facing these difficult situations and life is tough. No, joy. Joy.

Like Jesus, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross. His joy wasn't the cross. He didn't gleefully accept the cross. We saw that in the Garden of Gethsemane. He did it for the joy that was set before him in the same way. Your joy, my joy, is to be Jesus Christ, is to be united with him. Our joy is to be rooted in him so that no matter what happens, we endure it, we experience the emotions, we experience the heartache, the hurt,

But at the same time, we have joy. Kind of like Paul told us in 1 Thessalonians 4. We sorrow, but not as those who have no hope. We sorrow, we hurt, we experience things, but not as those who have no joy. We're to rejoice always because Jesus Christ is Lord. He's our Lord. He's my Lord. He saved me. And he's got an inheritance. Incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for me. Paul taught us this concept in Philippians.

over and over again, talking about joy, yet he's imprisoned because Jesus is his joy. It's not based on his circumstances. The second thing, part of fulfilling God's will, is to pray without ceasing. So we've already violated that. You know, we've spent time in worship and spent time in the word here, and you haven't been praying this whole time. No, it doesn't mean to have your head bowed and your hands folded 24-7. To pray without ceasing means that we're to be in constant communication with God.

This word for prayer is the word that's used for all different types of prayer. For requests, supplications, for giving of thanks, for intercession, for worship.

It's used of all different types of prayer, indicating that we're to pray without ceasing in the sense that we are always in communion, communication with God, bringing things to the Lord, bringing people before the Lord, praising him, adoring him, worshiping him. We're to just keep those lines open and be in constant fellowship, relationship with God. Pray without ceasing. And thirdly,

And everything gives thanks. Just like in joy, the Christian can give thanks no matter what circumstances we face. We can thank God for the hope of heaven. We can thank him for the sacrifice of his son. If Jesus Christ died on the cross for us.

That is enough. Even if we have no other joy, even if God gives us no other blessing, even if our life is miserable from beginning to end, the fact that Jesus Christ died upon the cross is enough for us to thank him and praise him and worship him every day of our lives, even if it's miserable, because he's giving to us the opportunity of forgiveness, the hope of heaven, eternity with him, and in comparison with eternity,

150 years of misery is nothing and you won't live that long. There's reason for you to give thanks because of what God has done for you. Do you want to know what God's will is for you? This is it. These three things. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing in everything, give thanks. And someone will say, but you know, I didn't really want to know that. Of course I know that, but I wanted to know if he wants me to buy this car or move to this place. I would encourage you to start here.

When you get these things right, when you rejoice always and pray without ceasing and give thanks and everything, he'll lead you to the next step. He'll make it clear where he wants you to go and what he wants you to do. But focus on these three things first. Do God's will. Rejoice, pray, and give thanks. The fifth responsibility that we find here in this passage is to be spirit-led. And we find that in verses 19 through 22. It says this,

Do not quench the spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things. Hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil. We're to be spirit led. It's our responsibility as a member of the family to be spirit led.

So Paul says, do not quench the spirit. What does that mean to not quench the spirit? There's a lot of ways that we could discuss this, but I think the simplest thing is to just look at the next few verses. Look at the next few things that Paul mentions. Verses 20 through 22 describe for us three things on how to not quench the spirit in our services and our fellowship and in our personal lives. We are to be led by the spirit.

To quench the spirit is to put out his fire, to stop him from working in our lives. You know, God never forces himself upon anyone. The Holy Spirit will not force himself upon your life to transform you and change you and give you the ability to overcome. He wants to work. He's able to work, but he waits for you to be available and willing for him to work. And so here's how to keep him working in your life.

To not quench his work and stop him from doing what he wants to do. In your fellowship, in your life, in our services, number one, to not quench the Spirit. You do not despise prophecies. If you don't want to quench the Spirit in your life, then do not despise prophecies. And I think that this demonstrates for us

Something that we see today, the wide spectrum of churches that we have today. On the one side, you have Corinth, a church that was consumed with spiritual gifts, but to the point that they were out of control. And Paul had to devote 1 Corinthians 12 and 14 to

To teach them and remind them, it's good that you're involved in spiritual gifts, but there needs to be some structure, there needs to be some order. You're out of control with the spiritual gifts. But then there's the other end of the spectrum. We have it today, and perhaps that's what was here in Thessalonica, where Paul also has to remind them, hey, God wants to speak. He wants to move by His Spirit. He wants to prophesy through the teaching of the Word, through people sharing by the Spirit.

And you need to not despise that. You need to be open to receive that. The word prophecy or the idea of prophesying, it's the idea of speaking forth the word of God. It takes place in time of teaching, like I'm doing this morning, speaking forth the word of God or Bible studies that you're involved in. It takes time or it takes place in times of afterglow.

Some call it a believer's meeting where we give the time for the spirit to work and allow the spirit to speak through us. Or it may take place in a person just sharing with you one on one or in a conversation with others that the word of God is brought forth. This is what God says in this situation. It's a specific word that's given.

Paul says, do not despise prophecies. If you want the spirit to be at work, don't despise prophecies. Don't don't condemn, condemn them, don't hold them in contempt, but receive them and apply them as God speaks. Receive it. Live it out. That's how God will continue to work in your life. The second thing and not quenching the spirit, he says, test all things, hold fast what is good.

And this is, again, the balance. Just because we're not to despise prophecies does not mean that we're supposed to receive everything that is spoken in the name of the Lord. We need to be open to the Lord speaking through prophecy, but we also need to test all things. Is it really from the Lord? Now, some would say, well, you know, you can't question. You can't ask. I mean, that would quench the spirit. No, the scripture says otherwise. We are to ask.

We are to judge and discern, is this really from the Lord or not? If it is, we hold fast to it. We don't despise it. But if it's not from the Lord, we discard it. 1 Corinthians 14, verse 29. Paul says, let two or three prophets speak and let the others judge. There's to be a determination, is this really from the Lord? Because...

There will be times, there will be those who will claim to speak in the name of the Lord, but really it's not God's word. That doesn't mean that you just discard prophecy altogether. No, don't despise it. You need to be open to it. But you just need to test the words that are brought forth. There needs to be a judging of whether or not, a discerning of whether or not it's actually from the Lord or not. That doesn't mean we judge the person's motives directly.

But we just judge the message. Does it line up with the word of God? Does it make sense? Is this what God is saying? Sometimes people believe that they have a word from the Lord when really they don't. When really perhaps it's just something that's been on their heart or something that they really want to say. Sometimes people use the name of the Lord to try to manipulate and accomplish things that they desire. Sometimes the name of the Lord is used deceitfully. Don't just receive.

Someone comes to you and says, the Lord said you're supposed to marry me. Don't just receive that test. Is that really of the Lord? The Lord told me this about you. We'll test. Is that really of the Lord? We're to test all things. Hold fast to that's good, but let there be a judgment. To question it, to judge it, is not to quench the Spirit. On the contrary, to question it, to judge it, to discern whether it's of God or not, is actually to encourage the work of the Spirit.

As you check it out with the word of God, don't just receive it because someone says the word of the Lord or this is from the Lord or God told me. No, test it. Judge by the word of God. And the third way to not quench the spirit is to abstain from every form of evil.

Abstain from every form of evil. The final way to make sure that the spirit keeps on working in your life, in your fellowship and in our services is to abstain from every form of evil. Keep yourself from sin. You will sin. But when you do confess it, keep a clear conscience before the Lord and don't practice evil. That's how you keep from quenching the spirit in your life. Stay away from sin. Run from it. Flee from it.

Now, if you want to quench the spirit, then go ahead. See how close you can get. See how much you can be involved in and still be saved. And you'll quickly quench the spirit. But if you want the spirit to work, stay away. Every form, every type, stay away. Abstain from every form of evil. These five responsibilities God gives to us, the brethren, as a part of his family, to love your leaders well.

to minister to others, to pursue what's good, to do God's will and to be spirit led. As we go on the last few verses, Paul is finishing up his closing comments. Verse 23 and 24, he says, Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit, soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.

Paul's prayer for them is that God would sanctify them completely, that they would be completely set apart for God and that they would be preserved blameless at the coming of the Lord Jesus. So Paul says, God, set them apart. Keep them there until you come again. And once again, he's pointing them to the coming of Jesus. He did this over and over throughout this book, always setting our eyes, setting our focus back on Jesus is coming back.

Be looking for that day. And he says in verse 24, he who calls you is faithful. He also will do it. This is Paul's prayer that God would sanctify you. But he also says, hey, God is faithful. He's going to do it. It's like Philippians 1, 6. Familiar to you, I'm sure. Being confident of this very thing that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. He will complete it. He's faithful. He's promised.

Verses 25 and 26, he says, brethren, pray for us. Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss. He says, pray for us. Now, again, it's important to notice Paul. He's speaking to the brethren. He doesn't say, hey, make sure your pastors pray for us because their prayers are really heard and they have a real close connection with God. And I really need their prayers. No, he says, brethren, you guys, I need your prayers. You have the same access to God as anybody else.

My prayer for you is no greater than the person next to you's prayer for you. I think it's important to note Paul is requesting prayer. And we need to be in prayer for those that God has given to us as leaders. We need to be in prayer for those that God has sent out as missionaries. And that's why we take time on Wednesdays to do that. But don't just take time then. Spend time in prayer.

For those who have been sent out. For those who are doing the work of the Lord. And he says, greet all the brethren with a holy kiss. Now, before you guys get too excited about kissing each other, the emphasis here is not on the kiss, but on the word holy. Notice the word all the brethren. All the brethren. So if you're going to kiss all the brethren, then you can kiss all the brethren. If you're comfortable kissing me, then you can kiss everybody else. Not that you should become comfortable kissing me. I'm not asking for that.

But that was just the normal form of greeting in that culture. It still is today in many cultures. In fact, when I'm with Ken's family, a lot of them still have this as part of their culture, and they'll come and greet one another and kiss each other. And as they're coming to me, I'm standing there, and I'm not, you know, that's not my culture. So I'm just standing there, okay, are they going to shake my hand? You know, sometimes I think we're just hugging, and then I'm surprised, you know, with a little wet mark on my cheek. And it's just part of the culture. And so if that's part of the culture, well...

Here, it's not really that much part of our culture. Our culture, we shake hands or in church, we hug. And that's the idea. Greet one another in the way, in the manner that you greet one another. But the key word there is holy. The word holy, that's the important part. However you greet one another, whatever the custom is, greet one another in holiness. That is in sincere love that you don't greet one another. You know, you're giving each other a hug and thinking, man, I hate this person.

They drive me insane. Why are they? I wish they would leave and go to another church. Or you smile and wave, you know, hey, you know, but you're faking it. And that's that's not right. Paul said, greet each other with a holy kiss. There needs to be sincerity in your love. Verses 27 and 28. I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read to all the holy brethren. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. He ends it again with grace.

As we close now, I want to share something with you, and I need you to stay with me on this one. Throughout this book, we've been talking about three things. You know what they are? Faith, love, and hope. Faith, love, and hope. And I want you to know, it's not that I sat down as I was preparing to start this book and

Was a mastermind and put it all together. And that's why we're able to look at faith, love and hope so much. No, you know, it just happened naturally. I studied the first portion of scripture and found those things. And God gave me those definitions that I've been sharing with you. And so as I've gone through, I've been amazed just perhaps like you have been. How many times we've seen that concept either expressed or demonstrated in this epistle.

Paul remembered their faith, their love and their hope, and he rejoiced. It was a confirmation that God had really done a work, that they'd been born again, that they were saved. He sent Timothy and Timothy came back and reported about their faith, love and hope. And it was a confirmation that God was still at work, that they were still walking with the Lord. It was the mark, the evidence of their Christianity.

of their relationship with God, faith, obedience to God at his word, love, overwhelming concern for and desire to serve others, and hope, the confident focus on eternity. These things for us as well are assurance and confirmation to us. How do I know that I'm saved? Because I can see in my life these characteristics that only come from God, faith, love, and hope.

How do I know that God's still working in my life? Because I still see growth. I still see these characteristics, these marks in my life. Faith, love and hope. How do I know that I'll be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ? Because I can see these things. Obedience to God at his word and overwhelming concern for and desire to serve others and a confident focus on eternity. By these things, I can know I can be assured. I know that God is working in my life.

And as we've been studying these things and I was meditating on these things as we finish up the book, verse 23 really stuck out to me. And I want to share this with you again. It says, now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit, soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And it really stuck out to me as Paul is talking about their complete sanctification, they're completely being preserved blameless until the coming of Jesus. But he separates it. He says, may your whole spirit, soul and body be preserved.

And I was wondering about that. I was meditating on that as I was studying this portion of Scripture. Why does he not just say your whole self or your whole being or all of you be preserved blameless? Why does he make it a point to say spirit, soul and body here in this verse? Spirit and soul are often used interchangeably throughout the Scriptures. They both refer to the immaterial part of a person, but sometimes they're referred to together as

And when they are, there is a distinction between them. Even Hebrews 4.12 has this. The word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, able to divide between joints and marrow, between soul and spirit. There's a distinction. There's a division. Well, what is the difference? I was listening to Pastor Dave Rolfe this last week, and he was sharing about this. And again, I thought it was interesting as I was meditating that God was speaking these things.

He talked about the spirit and described it as being the part of man that is able to have relationship with God. It's the vertical relationship, the ability for us to communicate with God. And then he described the soul as being the part of man that has the ability to have relationship with others. It's the internal workings of a person, the horizontal plane.

It's what we refer to when we speak of the heart, dealing with the emotions and feelings, all of the internal workings within ourselves. And so there's a difference between the soul and the spirit. And so why does Paul emphasize that? Why does he distinguish that, that your whole spirit, soul, and body would be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ? As I meditated on that, I believe that these correspond to the point and the thrust of this book, the message of faith.

love and hope. See, what do you need to be preserved blameless until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ? What do you need? Well, you need faith, love and hope. Why? Paul says first that your whole spirit, you have a spirit before you were born again. Your spirit was dead. Ephesians chapter two tells us that very clearly. You were dead in Christ. I mean, before Christ, sorry, you're dead in trespasses and sins.

But now you're alive in Christ. How? How did that happen? How did you become alive in Christ? Ephesians 2, later on in the chapter, verses 8 and 9. For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Your spirit...

came to life. Your spirit was regenerated when you were born again, when you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Your spirit is dead until you are born again by faith. The best thing for your spirit is faith. The way that you have relationship with God is by faith. Hebrews 11 tells us that everyone who comes to God must believe that he is and that he's a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. The best thing for your spirit is

For you to be preserved blameless till the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ is faith. That's what you need. That's what's the best thing for your spirit. That's how you can know that you'll be preserved blameless. How about your soul? What is your soul need to be preserved blameless to the coming of the Lord Jesus? Your soul needs the best thing for your soul is love.

The internal workings of you, your relationship with others, the best thing for that is love. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 13. Patience. Love is patient and kind. And on and on and on the list goes. The best thing for you is love for your soul. That you would have patience. That you would have forgiveness. That you would have kindness. And we could go on and on. Love for your soul is what's best. It's how you know that you'll be preserved blameless.

The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And finally, the body. What's the best thing for your body? Hope. Hope. The hope of the resurrection. The new body. The hope of the redemption. The body that God has for you. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 2, Paul says, For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation, which is from heaven. We have this hope. The redemption of our bodies. The resurrection of our bodies.

the new body, the habitation that God has for us, which is from heaven. See, the best thing for us, for every aspect of us, every part of your being, is faith, love, and hope. Faith, obedience to God at his word. Love, overwhelming concern for and desire to serve others. And hope, the confident focus on eternity.

As you give yourself to these things, faith, hope, and love, you can rest assured that God will sanctify you completely. You'll be preserved blameless of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's the marks of Christianity, the characteristics of God being at work. Faith, love, and hope. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word and your promises to us.

God, we ask that you would help us in our responsibilities since you've called us to be a member of your family. Help us, Lord, to be diligent in the responsibilities that you've given to us. Lord, help us to love those that you've given to us as leaders. Help us, Lord, to minister to others. Help us to pursue what's good, to do your will, and to be spirit-led. And God, I pray that you would help us in the area of faith, love, and hope.

Lord, that we would be obedient to you at your word, that we would receive your instruction to us. We would apply it. We would live by it. Lord, that our decisions and everything we do would be based on what you speak to us in this powerful book you've given to us. God, I pray that you would give us great love for those around us, for the lost. Lord, that we would desire to serve them. Lord, that we would have a great concern for others.

Lord, because that's the heart and the attitude that you have. And it's what's best for us. God, we ask that you would help us to have hope. Not to have our roots deep in this earth, in this life. But Lord, our expectation, our hope would be you. As we look to eternity and the redemption that you have for us. God, we thank you that you're so good to us. We thank you for your grace that's abundant to us. We ask, Lord, that you would preserve us blameless.

Sanctify us completely as we give ourselves to faith, love, and hope. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.