1 Thessalonians 5:19-28

1 Thessalonians 5:19-28  Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt.  Test everything.  Hold on to the good.  Avoid every kind of evil.  May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.  May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.  Brothers, pray for us.  Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.  I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

As Paul ends this letter to his beloved children IN CHRIST, he challenges them to be on fire for the Lord, to prophesy willingly, and to test all things to see if they are from God.  He beseeches them to avoid evil and to cling to that which is good.  He desires his children IN CHRIST to be blameless before the Lord at his coming.  Paul also wants them to have confidence God will perfect the work He has started in them: The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.  However, most of all because of his love for them, Paul treats them gently and kindly as good biological parents would treat their own children, desiring them to follow his words and example.  For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.  (chapter 2:11-12)  We were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children.  We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.  (Chapter 2:7-8)  Because of his life, he had earned leverage with his children, the leverage of a life of faith lived out in harmony with God's perfect will as a father in the faith.  They knew his words came from a life of integrity, self-sacrifice, and service.  Paul was not one to merely talk about how to keep the Spirit's fire alive: he showed how to keep in step with the Holy Spirit with every step he took.  He wrote this letter confidently in the power of the Spirit, believing he spoke the words of life from God to his beloved church, believing he spoke God's message and not his own, as he told the church in Galatia: I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up.  I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.  (Galatians 1:11-12)   

As we read Paul's concluding words to his children IN CHRIST in Thessalonica, we realize these are words we would want our own children to hear from from us if we were writing a final call to stir their hearts: Dear children, keep serving the Lord with fervor; speak what He has put in your hearts; check everything in and out of the church to see if it is from God; and endure to the end with joyful hearts; so you might be found blameless before the Lord when you meet him in reality.  God loves you and you love him: encourage and support each other as you walk by faith.  A good father knows as Paul knew that Christianity demands being "all in."  Nothing else is acceptable to the Lord.  Every word expressed, every song sung, every step taken, and every thought pondered should be under the Lord's domain; for we are his light in this dark world, his love where hatred reigns.  We shine his light in the darkness as surely as we see the small light on a dark night emitted from a plane flying high in the sky.  Sometimes you cannot even see the profile of the plane, for it is so high in the atmosphere, but you see a light blinking off and on as it traverses the sky.  One night last week Dad was looking at such a light.  He could not see the outline of the plane because of its high altitude, but he knew it was there because of a blinking light.  The Lord spoke to his spirit as he gazed into the darkness, "You are that light, Cliff.  MY CHILDREN ARE THAT LIGHT."  Yes, the blinking light is each one of us.  The light might seem to disappear for a time, it might be faint, but it is still the light of the world.  As we yield to the source of light and life, we glow ever more brightly.  The light indicates the Holy Spirit is onboard.  He has brought Christ's likeness to us and promises never to leave us.  The Bible says, Christ is the light of the world.  We have that light in us.  Paul wanted his spiritual children IN THE LORD to realize their lives should burn brightly for God.  He wanted them to know they must serve the Lord with all their mind, soul, and spirit if they wanted to be blameless before God.  As Paul tenderly touches their hearts with his words, he presents them with a life WORTH LIVING: a life of fruitfulness and joy.  When Paul writes to the church at Rome, he reminds them to rejoice and to glorify the Lord as he reads them the prophecy concerning the Gentiles coming to the Lord.  Then he says, May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  (Romans 15:13)     

As Christian parents we want our children and grandchildren to understand fully that no other life but a hundred percent commitment to God is worth living.  As we overflow with the hope and joy of the Lord, we find power in the resurrected Lord through the indwelling Holy Spirit to trust in him--the God of hope.  Jesus was all in, Paul was all in, the apostles were all in.  These all heard the Father's desires and worked diligently to fulfill his will, his eternal purposes.  They all went to their deaths with this commitment to God.  We know Jesus said, He who has ears to hear, let him hear.  (Mark 4:9)  As Christians we have that ability to hear God.  Our antenna, the Holy Spirit, abides within each of us.  When Jesus was preparing to leave, He told his disciples he would send the Counselor, the Spirit of truth.  Then Jesus explained: He will guide you into all truth.  He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.  He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.  If that is true, what is God saying to us today?  What does He want us to do?  How does He want us to live?  Are we willing to hear him?  Or, are we holding back part of our lives from his authority and will.  Paul said be on fire for the Lord, burning brightly and completely for him.  Don't look back, don't retreat, don't let go of the good.  The Bible says God finds no pleasure in one who looks back.  

Children of the Lord seated around this breakfast table, each of you has the Spirit of God dwelling in you richly.  He will guide you as you commit all your ways to him.  Do not treat prophecies with contempt.  Otherwise, children, don't ignore the words you hear from the Spirit through the written Word, the preached word, and the words of the Holy Spirit within you.  Don't hold God's message to you at arm's length.  Do what He has asked you to do but always test everything.  Make sure the words that you are mulling inside you are truly from the Lord.  Make sure what you think you heard from God fits within the parameters of the scripture and good teaching.  For sure, dear children, whatever is good, DO IT.  And whatever is evil, outside of the attributes of the Holy Spirit, avoid those thoughts or actions: trash them.  Now, this is the life we want our children and grandchildren to live.  Paul knew if his Thessalonian CHILDREN IN CHRIST implemented the Spirit's call, they would produce much fruit in their lives, creating light and life in a dark and dreary world.  As he prayed, we pray also: May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18  Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 

Paul and his fellow apostles lived demanding lives.  In addressing the somewhat haughty and judgmental Corinthians who were openly criticizing him and the apostles, Paul sets up a contrast between the Corinthians' supposedly spiritual lives and the lives lived by Christ's APOSTLES.  The apostles were experiencing their everyday lives in hunger, thirst, rough treatment, homelessness, and disrespect while toiling hard for the sake of the gospel.  Paul says, it seems to me that God has put apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena.  We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men.  We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ!  We are weak, but you are strong!  You are honored, we are dishonored!  To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.  We work hard with our own hands.  When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it;  when we are slandered, we answer kindly.  Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.  (1 Corinthians 4:9-13)  Paul in his refutation of the Corinthians' attitude reveals clearly what it takes to be a committed believer.  Christians do not allow the calamities of life to spoil their God-given mission in this world.  In fact in the above scripture, Paul says, be joyful always--give thanks IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES, for this is God's will FOR YOU.  We can do this only through the grace and mercy of the Lord. 

Paul knew believers are to be strong IN THE LORD, for He has enriched us in every way.  I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.  For in him you have been enriched in every way — in all your speaking and in all your knowledge — because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you.  Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.  He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.  God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.  (1 Corinthians 1:4-9)  The apostles knew the meaning of salvation.  They fully understood they had been released from the prison of sin and the judgment of death.  They were no longer enemies of God, destined for eternal punishment.  Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we NOW stand.  (Romans 5:1-2)  They knew they were now free to serve God for his glory and that deprivation and persecution in this life held no power over their eternal destination.  Even though temporary trials might cause them pain or sorrow, they kept their eyes on their Lord, knowing above all else God was their inheritance and his house was their final dwelling place.  Peter wrote: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.  (1 Peter 1:3-6)  No wonder Paul could enumerate the difficulties of life that the apostles were experiencing and still say with all confidence: BE JOYFUL ALWAYS.  With Peter and Paul, the apostles understood the priceless nature of their salvation: IN CHRIST we are more than conquerors, and we know who we are because we KNOW WHO HE IS!    

Are we truly as appreciative as the apostles of our inheritance in Christ?  If we let the Holy Spirit bring us to a better understanding of our salvation and God's eternal plans for us, our feet would hardly touch the ground for happiness.  Our complaining about our adverse circumstances would begin to take a backseat to our joy in the Lord.  We would rejoice in our sufferings and disappointments, knowing God holds us in his hands; and all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.  (Romans 8:28)  Paul says we stand in God's grace; therefore, we are in the same position as anyone God has ever chosen and set apart unto himself, just as David or any of the Patriarchs of old, just as the apostles Jesus called to follow him.  God is on our side: He is for us.  Does this mean we are not going to have troubles and trials.  No, Jesus said we would have troubles.  James wrote: My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.   (James 1:2)  But standing in God's grace means we are viable members of God's family with all his resources available to us.  Regardless of our circumstances, our Father hears us when we pray.  As we yield to him, He makes something good from the bad.  We cannot always see it at the time, but we can trust the master potter with the clay.  God's will for us as faith children is that we commit to him AT ALL TIMES.  We gained access by faith to a life of grace; consequently, we rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;  perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.  (Romans 5:3-5)  We know ultimately we are in the hands of a loving Father who gave everything for us.  As we listen to Paul recount the difficulties of the apostles' lives, we hear his underlying implication that they set the example for the Corinthians and all who bear the name of Christ.  Yes, the apostles experienced trials, persecutions, even violent death; but they did not see themselves as defeated warriors trailing behind at the mercy of a victorious army.  No, they stood tall by faith in a circle of grace as God's chosen ones: weak according to the world, but mighty soldiers in the army of the Lord, chosen to lead many to the cross of the precious Lamb of God.  Who will we lead to the cross today?  Be Joyful Always!  

1 Thessalonians 5:12-15

1 Thessalonians 5:12-15  Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you.  Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work.  Live in peace with each other.  And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.  Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else. 

The above scripture reveals clearly how we should LIVE in the Spirit.  We should respect our leaders in the church and HOLD THEM IN HIGHEST REGARD IN LOVE.  We should seek to live in peace with each other.  We should encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone and warn the idle in church that they should work for the Lord.  And of course, never pay back evil for evil, and try to be kind to everyone.  Sounds simple doesn't it, but in our day of electronic messaging, we see many messages on Facebook, Twitter, and e-mail breaking those simple guidelines to Christian living.  We have to stop and ask ourselves if we Christians really believe we are going to stand before our Lord someday to give an account of our words.  Do we sometimes find fault when we should be complimenting; do we tear down when we should be building up our pastors, our worship leaders, our friends, and our neighbors?  If we can't love them, how will we love the unlovely?  Jesus said,"You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:43-45)  He goes on and says that anyone can love those who love us, even the pagans do that.  He says if you love your enemies you will be called sons and daughters of the MOST HIGH for God who made man in his own image sends his rain (blessings) on the righteous and unrighteous.  Unfortunately, some of what Christians say through the electronic media best illustrates the scripture in Isaiah that tells us that we are like sheep who have gone their own way, who have no shepherd to guide their ways.  Of course, this kind of self-willed life is repugnant to God, for HE desires us to reflect him to a dark and sinful world.  We are to be his ambassadors, showing forth the peaceable fruits of righteousness and love. 

As ambassadors we should possess God's wisdom, yet we sometimes stand on our soapboxes, loudly, even angrily, professing our words of wisdom for all to hear, thinking we know the mind of God.  We read in James 3:17, But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.  Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.  Anger, bitterness, hate, and discord are not part of the true wisdom of God that changes the hearts of men and women in a lost generation.  They are the characteristics of the fallen world.  Negative words and emotions don't illuminate the lost with God's light or penetrate hearts with his love.  Rather, those negative words and volatile emotions shroud the world even more in Satan's darkness and hatred.  All of us are susceptible to worldly, fleshly words and actions, for we are but flesh.  When we allow doubt, fear, and unbelief to enter our Christian beliefs and to permeate our thinking, we tend to strike out at the world in anger; and we soon find ourselves mired in the terrestrial, forgetting our purpose in life is to serve God, glorify his name, and bring others to him.  We forget who we are in Christ and who He is in us.  Today's passage orients us toward who we truly are in the family of God:  We are of the celestial, not the terrestrial.  We possess eternal life within us that will never fade away, a fountain of hope overflowing to share with every person we meet.  But our hope for the world is not to make it a better place where we can live at ease, but to offer freedom from sin and a certain hope of eternal life.  The martyrs understood these realities: they knew the world and everything IN IT would pass away someday, so their hope was in Christ the Eternal One.  As John wrote: Do not love the world or anything in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world.  The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.  (1 John 2:15-17)     

Our world presents so many distractions we have to remind ourselves who we are in the Lord.  How easy it is to become upset and bitter about events in the world.  We hate the sinfulness and waywardness, the way people treat our values and the things we cherish; but when we stop to pray for those same people, God's Word comes to our remembrance: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  (John 3:16-17)  We realize we must love the people of the world, even if they hate our message, our God and Savior, and us.  God sent his Son, his precious only begotten Son to save mankind.  He did not send him as the great condemner but as the Great Shepherd of the Sheep, Savior of all.  As his children, we are not free to sow criticism, discord, and hatred, no matter how right we think we are.  We must discipline our mouths and our actions to allow the Holy Spirit's attributes to control our lives.  As we have been writing in the last couple of breakfasts, the Spirit's characteristics should be our characteristics.  Do love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control overflow from our lives?   Stephen spoke harshly to the Jews at his stoning.  He told them that God was displeased with them because of their disobedience, their resistance to God changing their lives.  You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears!  You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit!  Yet having said this, his last words before death showed the love of God for them flowing from his heart: Lord, do not hold this sin against them.  (Acts 7:51 & 60)  Let us not resist the Holy Spirit's wooing.  As much as is possible by the power of the Holy Spirit within us, may we live in peace with each other.   He asks each of us to come under his authority: to check our mouths, to control our actions, to be his children in a dark and sinful world.  Love your leaders in the church and out, pray for those who persecute you, comfort those who have no one to share their pain and sorrow.  This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.  If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.  (1 John 1:5-7)  

1 Thessalonians 5:8-11

1 Thessalonians 5:8-11  Since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.  For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.  He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.  Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. 

Ephesians 1:3-6  Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.  For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.  In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.

God's plan from the beginning was not to have us suffer wrath because of our disobedience and sin but to deliver us from our fallen state through faith in Jesus Christ and his saving works.  For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.  We who are part of the body of Christ are cleansed by the blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God.  In John 1:29 we read, The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!  Christ alone makes us holy and blameless before God's eyes and presents us to the Father as his spotless bride.  Others might view our imperfections, our lack of holiness in certain areas, but their assessment of our lives does not count, only God's assessment counts in eternity.  He alone has the right to judge our lives, and He judges us through the lens of his Son, Jesus Christ.  We, who are IN CHRIST by faith, have been cleansed by the precious blood of the Lamb and clothed in Jesus' righteousness.  We come boldly before the Father's throne as sons and daughters of the Most High.  We do not come fearfully, expecting the judgment we deserve, for we know Christ himself said, Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  (John 3:14-16)  God did not create us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation though our Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore, by the powerful unction of the Holy Spirit, Paul states his confident hope: whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.  

Someday the resurrection will happen for all believers who await the coming of the Lord.  Either at the time of our deaths or at his second coming, we will understand fully that our lives since our rebirth have existed in reality totally IN CHRIST.  And because He is eternal, we who are IN HIM are eternal.  He cannot deny eternal life to his own body.  Pumping through the newborn life is the life-giving Holy Spirit.  He is the earnest of our inheritance.  His presence in us means we are alive forever.  Death has been defeated, the grave has no hold on us. The Holy Spirit's eternal power will draw us to heaven.  We will know at that time that we have never really been separated from Jesus.  When He said I must go away so that I might send the Holy Spirit to you, this was a pronouncement He intended to dwell in each of us through the Holy Spirit.  And the basic truth of the gospel is that we are alive eternally because when Jesus rose from the dead, we rose with him.  We have access to heaven's domain because He lives there.  The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in every Christian.  That Spirit makes us alive in Christ and teaches us all things by revealing the truth to us.  He guides us, comforts us, and brings us the perfect peace and inexpressible joy of the Lord.  Paul expresses our position in the Spirit well by saying, But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.  (Romans 8:11 NKJV)  We are in the family of God because Jesus is in us and we are in him through the power of the Holy Spirit.  No other gospel is the true gospel of salvation.  We do not earn our place in heaven; Jesus earned it for us by redeeming us and setting us free from the power of sin.  We are truly HOLY AND BLAMELESS BEFORE GOD'S EYES.  We should rejoice, shout, sing praise to our Lord and King! 

Therefore, since we have such a great salvation, how should WE LIVE?   Many times Christians seem discouraged and downhearted as if they just came from a dark dungeon, or their lives were taken captive by Satan and his demons.  They seem to focus on their many trials and disappointments--seeing only the darkness around them.  Should we spend our lives shouting at the darkness or rejoicing in the light?   Should we bemoan the strongholds of the enemy or share the Good News that Christ has come to set the captives free and to lift us up into heavenly places?  Believers should have an up-to-date testimony that Christ is alive in their hearts.  People around them should hear them praising God for the light that has shined in the darkness of their lives.  This will not happen if our families and friends see hatred, bitterness, and anger permeating our interactions.  It is not our words but our actions that will show the world we have been SET FREE to serve a wonderful Savior and to display his image to the unsaved.  Rather than retaliating with criticism, bitterness, and rage, when we yield to Christ, He allows us to fulfill his commands to love our enemies, to do good to those who hate us, and to pray for them always.  When we walk in the Spirit, we fulfill the will of our Father who loved us while we were yet sinners.  The Bible says we are NOW TEMPLES OF THE LIVING GOD.  How should we walk then?   What should emit from God's temple?  The Bible is not vague or quiet ABOUT THE NATURE OF THE TEMPLE, FOR THE TEMPLE IS THE ABIDING PLACE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.  In our last breakfast we listed the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.  These attributes are more than a harvest, they are the essence of the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit's nature is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Against such things there is no law.  Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.  Since we live BY the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.  Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.  (Galatians 5:22-26)  When Christians become arrogant, conceited, critical, provoking, when the world sees Christian as red-faced, shouting damnation to the world and its leaders, we have lost sight of the plan of God:  Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”  (Luke 2:13-14) Look to Jesus, little children.