Thessalonians, I hear that it's been going very, very well and we look forward now to
Paul who's going to come and speak in just a moment, but we're going to read that first.
First Thessalonians chapter 5, which is on page 1188, on page 1188, First Thessalonians
chapter 5, verses 12 to 28, it's perhaps, probably reads a little bit higgledy-piggledy, it's
kind of like a whole load of things thrown together, but Paul's going to make sense of
it all, aren't you Paul?
Good man, we look forward to it.
So let's read from First Thessalonians chapter 5, starting at verse 12, it's on page 1188.
Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, 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 and sisters, warn those who are idle.
Encourage the timid.
Help the weak.
Be patient with everyone.
Make sure that no one pays back wrong for wrong.
But always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.
Be joyful always.
Pray continually.
Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
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 called you is faithful.
And he will do it.
Brothers and sisters, pray for us.
Greet all the family with a holy kiss.
I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the family.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Paul, I'm going to come up and I'm going to pray for you.
I'm going to ask you a couple of questions first.
Some of you know Paul, some of you might not.
Paul McFarland?
That's correct.
That's right.
Tell us your relationship with the lady you've brought with you today.
This is my betrothed on the second row.
We'll be getting married at the end of September.
So I think Kate cooked at the Cargilline Church weekend before.
So you probably all know her.
Well, we're all still alive, so that was okay.
And just tell us what you're doing at the minute.
And as far as you can tell, what the next year will be for you.
Well, I've been down since September, I suppose, full time in Middleton Evangelical Church.
And I've been working as assistant and youth pastor there.
So it kind of varies.
I suppose there's different things to do in the role.
Some preaching, a lot of youth work.
Some evangelism work as well.
And for the next year, I suppose I'm going to be down for sure until September 2013.
The end of September 2013.
And then after that, I suppose, just see what God has in store.
And just take it from there.
And when you say down?
Down from the north.
Oh, right.
It just depends.
Well, if you hold the map, it looks kind of down, you see.
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
All right.
You don't look down on us, though, do you?
Oh, the fancy is going.
Anyway, it's good to have you here today.
I'm going to pray for you and for us and then pass over.
Father, thanks so much for Paul and Kate being with us here today.
And just as we prayed for Graham and Justy, we pray the same for Paul and Kate later on in September.
Bless them, we pray.
Equip them as they seek to serve you together.
And we pray for Paul now as he speaks.
Fill him, fill us with your spirit.
Speak to us afresh through him that we may be encouraged, built up, and brought closer to the kind of people that you call us to be.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
Thanks very much, Paul.
Well, if you want to just keep your Bibles open there, as Johnny says, the passage has got lots of different things in it.
So it's really important that you're just following through as we go through it, because otherwise you probably will get lost.
It's most likely my fault, but I'll just blame it in the passage.
So anyway, it's 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 12 to 28.
What page number was it?
1-188.
So if you keep that open.
Now, I think originally it was supposed to be someone else who was speaking today, but they made some sort of lame excuse about having a 50th wedding anniversary and all this kind of thing.
Even though I'll be peeling the spuds for his dinner.
But no, then I was told what the passage was on.
It was all about holy kisses and that kind of stuff.
So I think I maybe drew the short straw, but I'll give it a go anyway.
So anyway, whenever you look closer at this passage, you actually find out it's really full of important instructions and guidance.
The temptation as we read it is to just skim through and see as if it's just Paul trying to give some kind of a few things to wind down so that the ending isn't so abrupt.
But really suppose that you get so much here in such a short section because most of it doesn't really need much explaining.
It's just a series of statements one after the other.
Now, earlier Paul has talked about the day of the Lord and other topics, giving explanation and reassurance and encouragement where it was needed.
And here it's basically just like, this is how you should act.
I'm reminding you, you should know it, but now just do it.
And also why he puts these instructions at the end is because it's the ending really that leaves the flavor, isn't it?
That's why a dessert is sweet and not bitter.
You don't want to be walking out of the restaurant with your face all screwed up because it's not going to be the best advertisement to whoever's walking in.
Or that's why whenever you have a coffee, they usually leave a little sweet, just a little note for the kitchen.
They usually leave a little sweet or a little mint so that the fragrance afterwards is nice and sweet and not coffee breath.
Now, the flavor of the letter, as it finishes here, is almost rushed.
It's like, don't slow up. Keep going. Follow my instructions.
The day of the Lord is coming, so press on.
Now, it might be helpful to divide the section into three as we go through it and just look at it, you know, as we follow through the verses.
So, I just split it up like this.
Verses 12 to 15 is corporate life.
It's instructions for the church.
Verses 16 to 22, personal devotion.
And 23 to the 8 then is closing blessings.
Now, there's going to be a good bit of overlap.
Those aren't strictly all just what the verses are made of, but it's probably easier to divide them up that way just to look at it.
So, firstly then, verses 12 to 15, we'll look at that and call it corporate life.
Now, there's going to be a bit of overlap, but how believers act individually is going to have a huge effect on how the fellowship acts
acts and how the fellowship gets on the corporate health of the community.
But Paul's focus here is definitely to build up the church as a group.
It's a bit like a rally cry before a battle.
It's like he's rousing the troops to be united and to be strong under their leadership.
And that's how he starts.
He starts with the leadership.
Notice how, though, whenever we look at it, he doesn't actually say anything to the leaders themselves.
He just says it to the church.
Now, these Thessalonians, they didn't have any problem with Paul.
They clearly respected him and they held him in the highest regard.
Some commentators even think that the people maybe even have held Paul in too high a regard.
They were very dependent on him.
In chapter 3, verses 6 to 10, you probably looked at it another time.
We read of Timothy's report back to Paul and how they couldn't wait to see him.
They maybe even, some people say, they maybe even idolized him a little bit.
That's why he writes, whenever he writes, he writes the whole letter pretty much from the first person plural.
He writes we all the time.
Paul, Silas and Timothy.
And he only uses the word I three times in the letter.
Twice to assure them that he personally wanted to see them.
And then once at the end of the letter here, to hold them to an oath to read the letter to everyone.
But in other words, really, even though he personally longs to see them,
the reality is that the whole Christian church shouldn't be dependent on just one man.
Thessalonica had its own leaders and its own elders.
And Paul is saying that in the midst of idleness and some false teaching about end times,
these people, your leaders, continue to work hard among you.
Now, it's pretty typical, I suppose, whenever we think of, you know, maybe we've heard in the news or throughout history,
different doomsday cults and different cults.
Now, sometimes the leaders can be very lazy.
They just expect to live in everyone else's generosity and they just talk about what's going to come.
Now, Paul says your leaders work very hard.
And they make it their effort to admonish you.
Admonish means to give a pretty firm kind of instruction or a bit of a rebuke or a warning.
And they admonish them, and Paul says, to hold them in the highest regard because of their work.
Now, you can see how they might have found it kind of easy to love and respect Paul
because he's something of a hero to them.
You know, he's somewhere far off.
He's doing the missionary thing.
He's away in Corinth or traveling throughout the known world, preaching the good news.
But their own leaders were just very much like real, down-to-earth, normal people.
And they were the ones that had the hard part of working hard with the people
and rebuking them and counseling them and breaking their backs to try and get rid of this false teaching.
And Paul says it's all hard work.
So make it your effort to love them, he says.
Accept their admonition.
In other words, if your leaders tell some part of your life or your behavior or your attitude isn't what it should be,
then respect them for having the guts to say it, he said, because it isn't easy.
It can be an emotional as well as a physical drain and sometimes a spiritual drain also.
Leaders carry burdens.
They work hard, Paul says.
So hold them in high regard.
And at the end of verse 13 he says, live at peace with one another, if you just keep your eyes in the passage.
Live at peace with one another.
Now when leadership, I suppose this follows all naturally, because when leadership doesn't exist,
or where it gets undermined, people just get lost, don't they?
Now this is a, maybe can be seen as a very negative view of humanity, but it's biblical.
In the world system, different ideologists like Noam Chomsky, if you read about politics or anything else,
they promote views like anarchy.
I see somebody chuckling now.
So anarchy.
Now anarchy is defined as the absence of government or authority and the absolute freedom of the individual
regarded as a political ideal.
Now perhaps your understanding of anarchy, a little bit like mine,
was just to think that it's another word for disorder or chaos,
but it's actually a view that people hold,
and many people think it's a nice way that the human race can operate.
Without authority, we can just have freedom, and we can all get along together.
But in reality, it doesn't work.
It doesn't work, because humans are sinful,
and when there is no state authority, there is state chaos, isn't there?
And where there is no church authority, there is also chaos and disorder.
Now the way to have freedom and peace isn't to throw off the yoke of leadership.
It's the opposite.
It's submission and respect and love for leadership.
There was people in the church in Thessalonica,
I'm sure you read about it and heard about it in the different sermons,
but they were very much anti-authority.
They weren't respecting the views.
And Paul deals with these people even more strongly in the next letter,
these anti-authority people.
But what they were demonstrating,
they were demonstrating that they didn't just want to get rid of the church authority,
they were actually rejecting God's authority.
Verse 12 says,
Paul describes them as these leaders who are over you in the Lord.
The concept of church humanity without church authority isn't a Christian concept.
Now healthy relationships in church can happen
unless people have a healthy view of church itself, including its leadership.
So in verses 14 to 15 then,
Paul moves on in the passage very naturally from relationships with the leaderships
to relationships with one another.
Now the first group Paul mentions is the idol.
They're in deliberate contrast to the leaders who are hardworking.
The idol in the church here,
we know that they had a bad theology.
Their different end times view was causing them to give up their jobs
and be sponging off the more generous and wealthy believers in the church.
But Paul says here,
he says,
that the church is to warn them.
Final chance.
We get the impression here even from the last few verses
that the leaders had already been warning these people
and admonishing them.
They had been admonishing them and warning them in the church
from the leadership perspective.
But Paul says here,
part of your respect for your leaders
and part of your holding them in a high regard
is to basically,
you to warn them as well.
Is to repeat
what the leaders teach
among the fellowship.
To teach it
and repeat it
to each other.
To warn what the leaders warn
and to teach
what the leaders teach.
a really cute story
was
one of the youth
was telling me one time
that they were thinking of
downloading a film
without paying for the copyright
and one of the other ones said to them,
they said,
remember what Paul said
because a week or two ago
before that
I had just given a talk on music
and mentioned very briefly
about copyright and piracy
and that kind of thing.
And so
the challenge for me,
I suppose,
was that sometimes people actually take
some of the things I say seriously.
But it's also nice to see that
in their context
they were respecting
what their youth leader was telling them
and they were teaching it to each other.
They were teaching what their leaders taught.
Now Paul says here,
you,
as a church member,
following the teaching of your teachers,
teach it to one another.
Repeat it to one another.
You see,
I actually got to the point
in the next letter,
chapter 3,
that Paul says,
don't even eat with these people.
But you see,
if they had have been
rebuking each other
and warning each other
in the community,
it might not have got to that stage.
You see,
I suppose
whenever we think of authority,
in the state context,
political authority,
they use this force
to respect the law.
The church authority,
there is no police,
there is no force.
But it's basically,
it's our responsibility
as church members
to encourage one another
and rebuke one another
and make sure,
just as we were doing
before the prayer time,
to see each other,
how each other is doing
in our own walks
and in our own fellowship
and make sure that we
encourage one another
from week to week.
Now that doesn't mean
that we're being judgmental.
It's about being sensitive
to each other's weaknesses
and building each other up
for the growth
of Christ's church.
Because right after
this very warning
to the idol,
what does he say next?
Paul says,
encourage the timid,
help the weak,
be patient with everyone.
Now it's a difficult balance.
But as we seek to live
in love with one another
and grow as a church
or as local churches,
it can't be ignored
that our relationships
with each other
as believers
are incredibly important.
We're to look out
for each other's health
out of genuine concern
and genuine kindness
for each other
and the other person.
It is like a family.
It might sound like
a bit of a cliche sometimes,
but we have to see each other
as brothers and sisters
and as part of the family
who all need our help
and encouragement
and most of all,
lots and lots
and lots of patience.
When we're patient
with each other,
what we're saying is
that basically,
in spite of all our faults
and all of our feelings,
I'm not giving up on you
because I love you.
That's what we're saying
when we're patient.
And that means
when we get hurt,
whether it's when we're insulted
or ignored
or sidelined
or we just think
that someone's being
a little intrusive
or disrespectful
or doesn't understand it,
then give them the benefit
of the doubt
and instead of trying
to vindicate ourselves
like we like to do
as human beings,
Paul says in verse 15,
always try to be kind
to one another
inside the church
and even outside the church
and work
or whatever environment
we find ourselves in.
That's the instructions
that he leaves
the church community with
as he finishes his letter.
So then,
verses 16 to 22.
Now the second section
in verses 16 to 22,
you could say,
concerns personal devotion
or the individual's
relationship with God.
Now it's going to have
a huge effect
on the community
or the church life
as well, obviously.
How we are
in our personal walk
with Christ
is going to affect
the church community.
Now just previously
in verse 14,
Paul has said
that the weak and timid
aren't to be abandoned.
I suppose in a work context
sometimes
or in a teamwork,
sometimes it's all about
trying to get
the strongest group forward
or whatever else.
The church is completely different.
You look at it
more like a family.
The weaker to be encouraged,
they're to be helped.
And I suppose
but really,
as we try to encourage
one another
and try to help one another
in the church context,
ultimately,
to some degree,
it still comes down
to the individual,
doesn't it?
You see,
someone could try
and encourage you
all day long
but they can't force you
to be joyful,
can they?
If you don't cheer up,
you'll just force
whoever it is
that's caring for you
to just be
completely exhausted.
Eventually,
they're going to run
out of encouragements
or helpful comments
or even
Paddy the Irishman jokes
and they're going to give up
trying to cheer you up
because they'll be exhausted.
Paul says,
be joyful.
It's a decision.
It's a decision
when you get up in the morning
that you're not going to focus
on all the consequences
of sin
in your life
and in the world around us
but instead,
going to focus on God,
on Jesus,
on the forgiveness
and the redemption
that we've had
through Jesus,
the adoption,
the acceptance,
the eternal life
and everything else
that we have received
because of trusting
in Jesus' death
for us.
Be joyful always.
All the time,
Paul says.
It's a decision.
Now,
you might think
it's easy to say that.
It's easy to just
turn out the words
be joyful,
be happy.
Especially for me,
I suppose,
as a stand at the front
but,
you know,
I don't know
what people are going through.
Maybe I get it easy
but ultimately,
it's God that's saying it.
Just as Jesus says,
don't worry.
Don't let your hearts
be troubled.
Even though he knew
he was going to be crucified,
go to the cross
and suffer
and die for the sins,
our sins,
he could say,
don't worry.
Don't let your hearts
be troubled.
Now,
Paul,
he certainly didn't get it easy either.
He suffered so much
and he didn't just think
it was just some kind of ideal
that people should aspire to
try and be joyful.
He's telling them
it's the way it should be.
Make a decision
to be joyful always
because it is a decision.
Now,
it's the same as the decision
which he says
in the very next breath.
He says,
pray continually.
Now,
God knows where we're headed.
He knows where we're going.
He knows what we need
for the journey.
He knows it all.
Now,
without constant communication
communication with him,
we just get lost
in our own personal lives.
Now,
the church body
is going in a direction.
God knows the future
of each local church.
He knows the future
of his universal church.
But just as he knows
the future of that
and the church prays
as a body,
so we also have to pray
individually.
We have to make it
our habit
to pray continually
in our own lives
so that we can be sure
that our own personal
and private lives
aren't going further
and further away
from where they should be
and aren't going further
and further away
from the way
it should be in church.
Sometimes we can find
ourselves going to church
but we're in a completely
different place
in our own personal lives
from where we should be
or where we feel
we're kind of putting on
where we are
in the church community.
Within the church community,
sometimes it can seem
all very good.
Privately,
in our own hearts,
we know the reality is
that we can get cold,
can't we?
And really then
when it comes to it,
when it comes to contributing
to what other people need
to helping them,
to trying to build them up,
we don't have so much
to contribute.
We don't have so much
that we can say
to help them
because inside
we're not the place
where we should be either.
Now our prayer lives
form the heart
of our spiritual lives.
Now the very most
fundamental thing
that shows someone
believes in God
is that they pray to him.
Isn't that right?
Now if you're not praying
it's either because
we don't believe
that God is really there
or else underneath it all
we believe that
there's no point in praying
because God is powerless
to do anything about it.
We say that there's no point.
Well without giving
an in-depth discussion
or explanation
about how or why
prayer works
or why we should pray,
Paul just says here,
he says,
pray
and don't stop praying.
Keep on praying
all the time.
And if you can't think
of what you can pray for,
Paul even gives us
an example
in the next statement.
He says,
to give thanks
in all circumstances.
We don't need
a lot of wisdom for that.
Sometimes we complain even.
We even make a complaint
that we don't know
what we should pray for.
Well instead of complaining
we should just be giving thanks
for everything
that comes into our heads.
Every good gift
that comes down from God
we can give thanks to him for.
Every conceivable thing
that's good in life
is worth giving thanks for.
Sometimes we try
and make it our purpose
to try and seek out
some kind of magic plan
that God has for us
or somehow somewhere
in the future
that's going to be
the consummation
of all our dreams
and it's going to be
the answer to all our problems.
But really
what we should be just doing
is giving thanks
for the way things
really are
right now.
And we can do that
because we pray to a God
that we really believe in.
A God who is in control.
A God who knows
what his will is for us.
That's not someplace
somewhere down the line
where somehow
we'll get fulfillment.
It's knowing that God
has us
where he wants us
and he has placed us
in churches
where we can love him
and serve one another.
God's will for us
is to live lives
of devotion to him
to be living worshippers.
And the next statement
actually
it just follows on
from that.
It's a statement
about having a heart
of devotion and worship.
Do not put out
the spirit's fire
or do not quench
the spirit.
And this relates back
to the image
of God's presence
in the Old Testament
just as at Pentecost
to God's presence
being represented
by fire.
Now in the Old Testament
in the tabernacle
or in the temple
the fire
on the altar
just burns
continually
24 hours a day
7 days a week
all year round.
Leviticus 6
verse 13
says
God says this
he says
the fire
must be kept burning
continually
on the altar.
It must not
go out.
What does verse 16
to 18 say?
Be joyful always
pray continually
give thanks
in all circumstances
for this is God's will
for you
in Christ Jesus.
Whenever we refuse
to be joyful
when we ignore
to pray
when we're ungrateful
to God
it has a smothering
effect.
It's smothering
to other people
and it's definitely
smothering
the reality
of God's spirit
in our lives
God's presence
in our lives.
Don't put out
the spirit's fire
in your life.
Don't refuse God
the worship
that he is due.
Verse 20 then
do not treat
prophecies
with contempt.
Now it seems
kind of strange
in the context
of false teaching
but a common
in a lot of the churches
particularly here
in the New Testament
was this idea
that I suppose
tongues was a superior gift
and prophesying
and plain old
boring teaching
from the Bible
could get a little
bit drab.
Prophesying
now whenever we
think of prophesying
prophesying
has two elements
there's forth telling
and there's foretelling
now prophesying
always has the first aspect
every prophet
throughout the Old Testament
throughout them all
always forth tells
now that's the primary
meaning of what it is
to be a prophet
or to prophecy
now foretelling
is to tell
God's truth
to the people
who are present
that hear it
they're saying
this is what God's saying
they're prophesying
or they're preaching
now foretelling
on the other hand
is more about the future
for example
whenever I say
Jesus is coming again
I'm foretelling
I'm not saying
that whenever Paul
talks about prophesying
here
he's simply
just talking about this
but certainly
in the context
this is certainly
what he has in mind
the prophecies
of Christ's return
he has been talking about
and prophesying about
through the entire letter
both in foretelling
about the future
and foretelling
about how God
wants the believers
to live
this is what he's
talking about
he says
don't treat it
with contempt
these false teachers
were ignoring
the teaching
and the prophecies
about Christ's return
Paul says
instead
hold on to what is good
and reject
what is evil
likewise
we should be
continually reminding
ourselves
of the reality
of the prophecy
that Jesus
is going to return
and we must live
in light of that
now moving on then
finally
and briefly
just to the last few verses
verses 23 to 28
now Paul ends his letter
thinking about
that prophecy
that we're just talking about
of Jesus' return
and he adds a final prayer
for the Thessalonians
that they would be ready
for that day
and then whenever we think
of prophecy
one of the biggest tragedies
is that people get so caught up
in what will happen
or what might happen
is that they ignore
or they reject
the whole purpose
why the prophecy was given
the prophecy was given
so that we might be prepared
individually
and as a church community
not by buying
tin beans
and dried fruit
and gold and guns
and storing it up
in a basement somewhere
that's well off
but that we might be holy
Paul says
so that we might be sanctified
made holy
through and through
thoroughly holy
basically he's saying
and that our whole spirit
soul
and body
would be kept blameless
for when he comes
that every aspect
of our being
would be focused
on being ready
and not be ashamed
when Jesus Christ returns
may seem like a big ask
but the encouraging thing is
that we're not on our own
verse 24
the one who calls you
is faithful
and he will do it
we began the journey
with grace
and we're going to finish
with grace
Jesus is the alpha
and the omega
the beginning
and the end
the author
and the completer
of our faith
so just as we keep reading
and praying
and seeking to have
an attitude like Jesus
one that gives the father
the glory that he has due
by living lives of worship
we can be certain
that he'll bring us
to the end
and we'll be ready
to meet him
whenever he comes
we all need grace
none of us
will ever get to the point
in our lives
where we don't need grace
that's why in the next breath
Paul says
brothers pray for us
he's no specific
and the reason is
probably that he has
all the same problems
and all the same concerns
that everyone else has
with a few more added in
as well we know
but he needs grace too
earlier in the chapter
he expressed his concern for them
and his desire
to see them
to come and to see them
and he's not above loneliness either
and this is where
the most awkward bit
of the passage comes in
verse 26
greet all the brothers
with a holy kiss
no I'm joking
for us really
I suppose
whenever we're missing folk
we might even write
say at the end of the letter
or something
give so and so a hug for me
or something like that
it's the same thing really
he misses them
and he cares for them
and the holy kiss
doesn't mean a kiss
that's not sleazy
or a kiss that's not impure
or that kind of thing
he's not saying
give them a pure kiss
like the one on the forehead
or something
he's basically just saying
give them a kiss
for me
and make it a holy one
because they're my brothers
in Christ
who I love very much
J.B. Phillips
he comes up with
some nice paraphrases
and he translates this one
as he says
give a handshake all round
to all the brotherhood
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
or to all the families
sorry I've got
I think I've got
the 1984 edition
no one is to be left out
either by sparing them
the difficulty
of hearing the hard parts
of the letter
or by denying them
the encouragement
that it would be
to hear a letter
from their dear friend Paul
but the way he says it
is just really affectionate
promise me
that you'll have this letter
read to everyone
won't you
would you promise me that
and then he closes
his letter by saying
the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ
be with you
and can I just take
the liberty of saying
then as 1 Thessalonians
comes to a close
the grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ
be with you too
Amen
Thanks Johnny
Thanks very much Paul
and please do talk
to him afterwards
if there's anything
you want to follow up
with him
but that's encouraging
our final song
of the time
and really
to beめ
the way
entrust
the way
it gets
and I'll
adjust
our Auft
it's Christmas
and finishes
when you lean up
your father
and
it
män
like