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.