The Normal Christian Life, 1 Thess 5:14-28

The Normal Christian Life

1 Thess 5:14-28

Last Sunday I ran out of time. I rushed a bit at the end of the message, even though there was a lot more to say. I love this section of scripture. And I used the words ordinary and normal enough last week to let you know why.

I want to review verses 14 & 15 to bring out a little more of their meaning to comfort you when you might be tempted to be depressed.

The Christian life is not a life that is always a victorious one. Sometimes there are great difficulties, suffering and heartache. Verses 14 and 15 remind us of the reality of some very tough things from time to time. The words were sent to a church beloved by Paul, Timothy and Silas. As they wrote this verse epistle, the love of the Apostolic Band was evidently strong toward this little church. The Band was just expressing something of the love believers ought to have for all those who genuinely believe. And, these verses give us an idea of what the genuine believer looks like, too.

Here is the very mundane list of the ordinary Christian life in the context of a church. All of these things were present. They al had the responsibility to do something about them. Notice, it is all the brethren who are addressed.

  

5 Exhortations

1 Thess 5:14 Now we exhort you, brethren,

A. warn those who are unruly,

B. comfort the fainthearted,

C. uphold the weak,

D. be patient with all. 

E. 15 See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone,

A Series of 8 Remedies

A. but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all. 

B. 16 Rejoice always, 

C. 17 pray without ceasing, 

D. 18 in everything give thanks;

B, C, D are a triplet for all; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 

E. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 

F. 20 Do not despise prophecies. 

G. 21 Test all things; hold fast what is good. 

H. 22 Abstain from every form of evil. 

An Important Prayer

23 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. 

A Reminder

24 He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. 25 Brethren, pray for us. 26 Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss. 27 I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read to all the holy brethren. 28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

A Look at the Text:

5 Exhortations

1 Thess 5:14 Now we exhort you, brethren,

These are the kind of things we might have to deal with at times in the life of a church. There will be some who don't do what we have agreed to do in accord with the rule of Christ over us; There will be some who for many different reasons may feel like just giving up on the Christian life. There will certainly be some who will show profound weakness in what they believe and how they live. There will be some who will do and say things that are in danger of causing provocations. There are others who will perceive an evil was done to them or to another and they will act on incomplete knowledge of a situation and return evil for a perceived evil. And, others who have actual evil done to them, perhaps something like a sin of the lips like slander or lying, and that person will be tempted to answer the fool according to their folly and return an evil for the evil done.

We read:

A. warn those who are unruly,

B. comfort the fainthearted,

C. uphold the weak,

D. be patient with all. 

E. 15 See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone,

We have those committing the acts in the church and we have those responding to what they do. People can respond in a right manner or further the wrong by what they say or do. Some brave believers will need to warn, comfort, uphold, be patient and vigilant to not return evil for evil.

But, what is the typical response to trouble in the Church? Rather than see it through according to biblical principle, people walk away from a church they deem as imperfect.

There is no such thing as a perfect church this side of heaven. If you were expecting us to be perfect, let me tell you upfront, we are not. There are times when individuals may be guilty of the very things we have read about. And, there are times when some might define us corporately. There may be times when we are of tremendous help to people and other times when we let others down. We don't mean to, but that is what happens in any society of sinners this side of heaven.

Given enough time, all of will build each other up in a variety of ways--we like when that happens. And, given enough time, all of will let each other down in either reality or perception.

People who spend time on such things, tell us that the middle verse of the Bible is Psalm 118:8. It is one of the main concerns of the entire Bible--interestingly enough--it is, 8 It is better to trust in the Lord Than to put confidence in man.

Why is it better to trust in the Lord? He will never let you down. He might allow you to suffer because of something you have done or because of something you need--like an increase of your faith.

People will let us down. Yet, we need people to help us when that happens.  And, it will. If we continue reading to verse 9,

 9 It is better to trust in the Lord Than to put confidence in princes.

Even the most noble of men will let us down. Be careful to trust in the Lord more than you put confidence in any human being. That doesn't mean we stop trusting anyone. That is not the poetic message--the point is that humans will let you down, god won't. Actually, let me correct that, God can't let you down. Even when you misperceive that he has, in truth he hasn't.

If your brother or sister in the faith, in this place let's you down in such a way that your Christian love for them can't cover a multitude of sins, go in humility to talk carefully about these matters.

A. warn those who are truly unruly,

B. comfort the fainthearted, give them encouragement

C. uphold the weak, give them strength--remind them of all Jesus endured.

D. be patient with all. This is the greatest sin in times of difficulty.  

E. 15 See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, --this happens too too much.

A Series of 8 Remedies

A. 15b but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all. 

People naturally do what they think is good for themselves without thinking about all of the rest. The standard is what is best for all--than do that.

We are naturally selfish. But, those who are self-centered are not likely to point their finger at themselves and see themselves as a problem. We all need to ask our selves, what is best for all? Then, that is how we should think and act. The remedy for strife and disorder is to be forebearing, humble and to do what is truly best for others.

Then it is our disposition that we are responsible to maintain. If we could make these concerns our own, we would be less downcast and affected by depressing sorts of things.

Depression is for the most part our own fault. It is the accumulated angst of responding wrongly (read sinfully) to the stimuli in our lives. The regular and continuous acts and thoughts contrary to God's Law have a cumulative effect upon us. Without repentance and turning away from these sins, they become easier to commit and the effects increase.

Sins not put to death in youth or middle age become the defining sins of our senior years. They become acceptable as part of our personality--that's just Mike, he has always been like that.

That is why we need the remedies. Some of us need to memorize these bullet points and make them our own.

A triplet of ongoing actions:

B. 16 Rejoice always, 

C. 17 pray without ceasing, 

D. 18 in everything give thanks;

B, C, D are a triplet for all; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 

They are actually commands. The remedy for contrary living is as basic as verses 16-18. And, to these words are appended "for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you--and of course he means all of you. All of you are to rejoice always, to pray unceasingly and to give thanks for everything.

The danger is that we might hear those words and misread them like this:

B. 16 Rejoice sometimes, 

C. 17 pray once a day during your devotional time, 

D. 18  give thanks when appropriate.

The commands obligate all of our attention throughout our waking hours. The remedy is all-defining. To always rejoice, pray without ceasing and to give thanks in all things. And added to that is a reminder that those three are God's will. I say that because of an important grammatical point.

When these sorts of activities start to define your life, you are growing in grace--that slow steady process worked in you throughout your lifetime.

We would rather have a series of life-changing experiences. And, that is what many in America are looking for. When it doesn't come they move on to somewhere that may give them what they seek. At least, or until, the reality about life among sinners settles back in.

Christianity is not a series of life-changing experiences, it is a lifetime of life-changing worked in the soul and life by the grace of God.

There are four more things that are to define our Christian life as we seek the grace from Jesus to do them:

E. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 

F. 20 Do not despise prophecies. 

G. 21 Test all things; hold fast what is good. 

H. 22 Abstain from every form of evil. 

E. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 

Don't take a bucket of water and try to put out the Spirit's fire.

It is a metaphor for grand sins that believers make the Spirit partake of. He gets grieved and withdraws his presence for a time. We must treat the holy one within us for who he is in truth. My fear is that many forget about the Spirit as they live their lifes on their own. But, we are never alone. The Holy Spirit sees what we see, we involve him in all that we do. We need to be careful with our care for him--it is enough that he lives in sinners, we must be careful to not make it any worse.

F. 20 Do not despise prophecies. 

In our day, people want to make this all about predictive prophecies of the future. I think there is a mix of each. Both of these types of prophecy are God's clarifying what was, what is and what will be. The first two categories are the largest and most important: what God has said in his Word is his prophetic word for his people.

G. 21 Test all things; hold fast what is good. 

Test by the highest standard known among men--the Word of the Most High God. What is it we are to test? All things--even the desires of our hearts. When the truth is found, grab hold and don't let it go. Take the good and make it your own. Isn't this the process of hearing and doing throughout the Christ-centered life?

H. 22 Abstain from every form of evil. 

Don't do acts from any category of evil. Evil in any manifestation should not define you. Don't hide a form of evil or two that you can take out at times of your own choosing to indulge yourself in the dark. Abstain, don't do it, don't let any category of evil into your life. Watch out for even the appearance of doing evil. The witness of Christ and your personal testimony are at stake. Don't bring a reproach to Christ by your pet evils.

These are our obligations to pursue with vigor. But, in our praying without ceasing, we pray realistically this…..

An Important Prayer

23 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. 

Completely. How complete is complete? If I'm building a house out of Legoes and I have it all finished except for the windows and roof, is it complete? No, it is complete when I have followed all of the directions and it is finished.

The typical Christian hears these words and wants to get out from under their force. There is another meaning to sanctify which means set aside for godly use and purpose. That usage is of inanimate objects like candleholders and the like. Living souls are set aside for God's purposes, but their moral purity is likewise important.  After all, the prayer ends with a plea for blamelessness. If there is no sin, there can be no blame.

The Prayer: 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. 

It is a work that goes on until the end of one's life or the end of the age, whichever is first.

A Reminder

24 He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. 

What would be the best for us, seeking to follow in his way as we grow in these graces, even if our piety is slow and steady? Or, to continue as we are seeking after the wrong things and feeling like failures because we can't attain the false hopes of pietism.

25 Brethren, pray for us. 

26 Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss. 

27 I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read to all the holy brethren. 

28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.