The Apostle Pauls practical instruction to the Thessalonian Church

The Call to Hear Hebrews and Read 1 Thessalonians 5

1 Thessalonians 5, before we read the text, let us hear from the sermon of the book of Hebrews. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.

Stand with us, please, this morning to honor the reading of God's holy word. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, this is the word of the living God. Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you, for you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

While people are saying there is peace and security, then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief.

For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night nor of the darkness, so let us not sleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night.

But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep, we might live with him.

Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up just as you are doing. We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work.

Be at peace among yourselves, and we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the faint-hearted, help the weak, and be patient with them all. See to it that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and everyone.

Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit, do not despise prophecies, but test everything. Hold fast to what is good.

Abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful.

He will surely do it. Brothers, pray for us. Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

A Prayer for Christ in the Word and Growth in Grace

Heavenly Father, we ask you simply for this today. Show us Christ in your word. Grow us in grace and in knowledge of your holy will, so that we may love you better and that we may serve you all the more.

For it's in Jesus' name I pray. Amen. You may be seated. I am always so encouraged by the children and the things that the children learn here at church. Sarah, I ask you, this is before you go to sleep, okay?

You can go to sleep. She said at 42 minutes she goes to sleep. So anything up to 42 minutes we're good on. Sarah, how did God plan to fix what sin broke? Amen. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God. So today in our text, what I want to do by way to kind of bring us up to speed that we have context within the chapter that we're looking at so that we don't just pluck it out of context and make it say what we want it to say, I want us to take a few minutes here to kind of gather ourselves to build the foundation, the context of chapter five, Paul's final statement in his first letter to the Thessalonians.

But really and truly, if you're taking notes today, the title I have on my notes is Paul's Practical Instruction to the Church at Thessalonica. Paul's Practical Instruction to the Church at Thessalonica.

The apostle Paul wrote, or at least dictated, 11 of the New Testament epistles. In each of them, he gives both general and specific instruction to the church to whom he is writing. And here we see, this is just one of those many areas in the New Testament that we see the importance of the local church.

This letter to the Thessalonians is no different. In each of the two letters that Paul writes to the Thessalonians, he reinforces the idea of personal responsibility, personal accountability among the members of the church to individual holiness.

And this individual holiness is based upon the standard that the Lord himself has given us. In chapter four, verse one, Paul commends the church members for striving to please the Lord, and he urges them to continue in that practice.

In fact, he says, do it more and more. We see this phrase repeated, this exhortation, this encouragement to continue the good work that Christ is working in us. In chapter four, verses two through eight, Paul affirms the importance of each member of the church.

He affirms the importance of each member of the church to abstain from sexual immorality because he states it is God's will. It is God's will that each one of us know how to keep ourselves under control.

The issue in the church at Thessalonica at that time, as was in many of the churches, there was a lot of sexual immorality. There was a lot of idol worship that still went on. There was a lot of pagan practices that were still mixed and blended in with the local churches, as I will go out on a limb today and say that there are still pagan practices in the local churches in our day and in our time.

This is why we must strive to seek to be biblical. He goes on to expand on this command by the Lord, saying that each one of them ought to know how to control their own bodies in holiness and in honor.

Now he uses the unbelieving Gentiles as an example of what not to do. Don't be like those unbelieving Gentiles. Now what is ironic is that historically we find the church at Thessalonica was not made up of redeemed Jews, it was made up of redeemed Gentiles.

So he wasn't afraid of upsetting anybody. He wasn't ashamed of hurting anybody's feelings or worried about somebody getting mad at him and running off. He was proclaiming the truth as it is. So he used the unbelieving Gentiles as an example of what not to do.

Now keep in mind, he also clearly states that when they committed and when we commit sexual immorality, he states that we are sinning against our brothers and sisters in Christ when we commit such sins.

As well, Paul reinforces the gospel teaching that the Lord will avenge those who sin in such a way against their brothers and sisters in Christ. This was not a personal threat coming from Paul, it was a threat that the Lord states himself that the Lord will avenge all those who do evil.

And so moving forward, we must remember that this is a solemn and this is a serious command that the Apostle Paul is giving to them. And then we see the church then, and recognizing again today, the church needs to be reminded of this truth.

We are living in a day where sexual immorality is just as rampant as it ever was. I would never say that it's gotten worse than it has been because truly, I don't personally believe it has. Since the beginning of time, man's heart has been evil and set on sin.

And since the fall in the Garden of Eden, every single one of us, young and old alike, are born with a sinful nature. So we need to be reminded of this truth. And so when we come to God's house, any given sermon that is preached from the scriptures in biblical context, on any given Sunday, should be heeded, as the psalm stated, as our daily bread, as our source of living water on which we are to live and without which we would surely perish.

We need the word of God, church. We need the word of God, not just on Sundays, but we need it on Monday. We need it on Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday and Friday and Saturday and start all over again.

We need the word of God. Now, that may sound a bit puritanical to some folks, and I would agree it is, but I would rather preach the puritanical gospel message of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, according to the scripture alone, for God's glory alone, than I would have a lip-wristed, watered-down social gospel spoken by men and women who are yet dead in their trespasses and in their sins.

We need the gospel. We need the biblical gospel proclaimed today. It is the church's responsibility. And when I say the church's responsibility, the local church's responsibility. And so, moving forward, now, when I speak of those folks, I'm speaking of those individuals who are, according to the scriptures themselves, hypocrites and pretenders who have a form of godliness, but they deny the power of the gospel.

So I would go so far today as to say that many people think, many of you may think this, that many people in the church world think this, many people think that folks, that sinners are hardened to the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ, when in reality, I would say sinners' hearts are hard because they have seldom heard or encountered the gospel of Jesus Christ.

They have heard the easy-believed gospel. They have heard, just come to Jesus, he's waiting for you, he needs you. Friends, God does not need you or I. He has done fine from eternity past, and he'll be fine to eternity future.

The beauty of the gospel is that he calls because of who we are, but because of who he is, and he is graceful, gracious, merciful, and kind unto us. So the gospel must be proclaimed, and it must be proclaimed by the church of the living God.

Liberal Christianity was denounced in the early 1900s, and it should be denounced in 2022. My man over there, that's right. J. Gresham Machen's famous work entitled Christianity and Liberalism should be a staple for us as church members.

Now you're going to say, hang on, you're suggesting we read a book. And by the way, church, I had not forgotten that we set out to read Kansas Theology together last year, and we just kind of let that go by the way.

We're going to pick back up on that, no worries there. But J. Gresham Machen's book Christianity and Liberalism should be a staple for us as church members. In his book, he states this, the rise of this modern naturalistic liberalism has not come by chance, but has been occasioned by important changes, which have recently taken place in the conditions of life.

The past 100 years have witnessed the beginning of a new era in human history, which may conceivably be regretted, but certainly cannot be ignored. It cannot be ignored by the most obstinate conservatism.

The change is not something that lies beneath the surface and might be visible only to the discerning eye. On the contrary, Machen said, it forces itself upon the attention of the plain man at a hundred different points.

We're not talking about liberalism that is sneaking its way in, creeping its way into Christianity. We are talking about overt liberalism that is leaping upon Christianity and trying to cover it up. But I'm reminded of what the word of God says, that the darkness is not able to comprehend the light.

The darkness is not able to overtake the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is no doing away with the truth of the scriptures, no matter how hard men and women may try. Modern liberalism, he goes on to say in the first paragraph of the first chapter in his book, he says this, modern liberalism in the church, whatever judgment may be passed upon it, is at any rate no longer merely an academic matter.

It is no longer a matter of merely theological seminaries or universities. On the contrary, its attack upon the fundamentals of the Christian faith is being carried on vigorously. Now listen to what Machen said.

It's being carried on vigorously by Sunday school lesson helps. It's being carried on vigorously by the pulpit and it's being carried on vigorously by the religious press. If such an attack be unjustified, the remedy is not to be found, as some devout persons have suggested, in the abolition of theological seminaries or the abandonment of scientific theology, but rather in a more earnest search after the truth and a more loyal devotion to it when once it is found.

Now this book was published in 1923. It's good for today. Liberalism is still the enemy of the church. Liberalism creeps in in the form of the world, the flesh, and the devil. So going forward here, the church today needs sound and doctrinal preaching, the kind of preaching that promotes the holiness of God and denounces the sin of man.

The church needs preaching like Paul's letter here to the Thessalonians. So Paul calls them to accountability to one another. Next, he calls them to have brotherly love for one another. In chapter 4, we're still building this context.

Next, he calls them to have brotherly love, and again, he uses the term more and more. Let your love abound toward one another more and more. Jesus said, by this, men will know that you are my disciples if you have love for the brethren.

And so we see this in chapter 4, verse 10. He continues by exhorting them to aspire to live quietly and to live peaceably amongst one another. He is talking about the relationship of the church members to one another.

This exhortation is given to them in the context of the local church body because he says, in order that outsiders may be witnesses to the power of the gospel to change men's and women's hearts who were once idolaters and given to sexual immorality.

Now I'm going to make another very exclusive statement here. There is a difference between being in the church of Jesus Christ and being outside the church of Jesus Christ. The gospel is exclusive. It does not include everybody.

My friend, those who are born again by the Spirit of God are saved by God and outside of the regenerating work of the Holy Ghost of God in the heart and in the minds of individuals. You are outside of the grace of God.

But the good news is that a living dog is better than a dead lion. That as long as there is breath in your body, there is hope for you today. You can be saved today. How's that accomplished? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Believe in his sacrificial death on the cross, his atoning work and death on the cross. Believe that he was buried and on the third day that he arose again and that he ever. It's not it's not able to be accomplished on your own in the natural.

It is a spiritual work that only God himself can do. So Paul then points to the Thessalonians, he points them to be reminded that those who have died in the faith in the latter portion of chapter four, he reminds them that those who have been died in the faith have not lived and died in vain in Christ.

For he says this, he goes on to say that since we believe that Christ died and rose again, those who have lived and believe in him will be raised again. Our hope ultimately is not in this life. It is not in this world.

It is in the promise of eternal life that one day after a while that we will get glorified bodies, that our bodies that slowly and surely are going downhill with every stinking day that passes. You pop and you crack and you hurt and you ache.

But my friend, one day when the Lord decides and the church is called home, then my friends, we will be changed. We will have a glorified body. And it's not because of what we do, but because of what Jesus Christ himself has done.

So he goes on in chapter four, verse 15 through 18, Paul declares, this is the word of the Lord. This is the word of the Lord. Let there not be any uncertainty in the minds of those who hear this today.

This is the word of the Lord. Now, obviously, he was speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. But this is yet another one of those times where he kind of reiterates this fact. This is the word of the Lord.

The living, he said, will not outrun those who have died before us in the faith. But at that great day, when the Lord returns, the dead in Christ will be raised first. And these are to be the words with which we as Christians and members of the local body here, this local body, your local body, wherever you're a member of a local church.

These are the words with which we are to encourage one another. We don't have to have the world's philosophy and instruction in teaching us how to build one another up. We have it in the word of God. William, when you get down and you get out, Pat, when you get down and you get out, what I ought to be doing and what these other brothers and sisters ought to be doing is coming to you and reminding you it may be bad now, but it'll get better one day.

Amen. That Jesus Christ will one day call us out of this whole world and we won't have to put up with all the garbage. But until then, we will occupy and we will remain and we will preach the gospel so that every man, every woman, every boy, every girl will hear the good news that Christ Jesus came to save sinners.

Amen. So that brings us to chapter five. Sarah's still awake. We're doing good. You're good. I'm good. Chapter five, verse one through three, Paul reiterates the fact that there is no one who knows when the Lord will return.

And just as quickly as labor pains come upon the pregnant woman, this is the example Paul's giving in five, one through three here. Just as quickly as labor pains come upon a woman, so suddenly will be the Lord's coming again.

Watchfulness, Sobriety, and the Hope of Salvation

In verses four through eight, we see the apostle's exhortation to be awake and to be sober. In other words, that we are to be vigilant, that we are to be aware of what is going on around us. In these verses, we see the familiar analogy given of that armor being worn.

Many times we think of Ephesians six, right? The whole armor of God. Here, the apostle Paul uses the analogy of armor again, being worn specifically the breastplate of faith and of love and as a helmet, the hope of salvation, to be thinking about Christ, that our minds, that we are taught in the scriptures whatsoever things are good, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely.

If there be any virtue, if there be any praise, what are we taught? Think on these things. There is nothing more beautiful. There is nothing more virtuous. There is nothing more lovely than for us to set our minds and to fix our gaze upon the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He goes on in verses nine through 11 here in chapter five. We read the great doctrine of God's predestinating election unto salvation of his people. And then the old, old story is proclaimed there. And what do you mean by the old, old story?

It's the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is proclaimed that Christ died for our sins and that he rose again on the third day and because he lives, as the old song says, we can face tomorrow. For he says it here, for God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or whether we sleep, we might be with him.

And then here in verse 11, what does he say again? Therefore, encourage one another. This is why it is of the utmost importance for us as Christian men, women, boys and girls, that we are faithful and regular and consistent members of the local church of Jesus Christ.

Practical Instructions for Life in the Local Church

And so that being said, that being said, we move to that last the last portion of this text here and we read where Paul makes this plea. He gives this practical instruction to the church. He says, we ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and those who admonish you and to esteem very highly in love these in love because of the work say.

And then he says, be at peace amongst yourselves. Now, if ever, if ever there was practical application in this, this last portion of the scripture is the so what of the sermon today? So what preacher, how are we going to practically apply what we've heard today?

This is the practical application. Be at peace amongst one another. Most churches today have so much infighting and it's infighting over things that do not matter. They do not mean anything. They are fleeting and they are most times temporal issues.

As Christians, we are to have our hearts and our minds fixed on God and fixed on that which is eternal because that which is temporary is passing away. How can the people of God not be at peace amongst ourselves?

When you're looking at Jesus Christ and I'm looking at Jesus Christ, when we see his holiness, when we see his glory, when we see his beauty, when we see his majesty and when we look at ourselves, all that we see is a sinful wretch who deserves to be in hell with our back broke today.

But God in his mercy and God in his grace has sent his son to die for our sins that we might have the hope of eternal life. This is good news. Be at peace amongst yourselves. Brethren, he said, I encourage you admonish the idle throughout this this book, throughout the second letter to Thessalonica.

He says some of the same things. We urge you admonish those who are idle, admonish those who are lazy, admonish those who aren't doing anything, encourage them to be about the work of God. And then he says this, encourage the faint hearted.

My brothers and sisters today in the church of the living God, this very morning here at this local church, there are those of you who are downcast, who are faint hearted, who don't understand why certain things are going on, why things are allowed to be as they are.

Be reminded of this church and encourage one another with the words of Christ that Jesus Christ ascended to the father. And he ever lived, he sits at the right hand measure, admonish, encourage the faint hearted.

And then he says this, help the weak. You can look at the side of your eyes and see somebody that's weak besides you right now. I'm looking at a bunch of weak people and you're looking at a weak man. We need to be encouraging one another.

We need to be lifting one another up, help the weak. And then he says this, it'd be good if we could just take a sharpie and mark this out. The problem was, is that no matter how many sharpies you got and how many Bibles you mark out, it doesn't change it that it's still there in the entire text.

Be patient with them all. Oh, my goodness gracious. You want me to be patient with her? You want me to be patient with him? Admonish, encourage, exhort it in the word of God to be patient with one another.

And then he says this, see that no one repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Again, this is our relationship within the local church that he's addressing here.

Then he says this, rejoice always, rejoice always, pray without ceasing. Amen. If we spent more time in prayer, we would have less time to find fault with our brothers and sisters that's on the bench next to you.

Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of God and Christ Jesus concerning you. Do not quench the spirit. Do not quench the pneuma, the work, the third person of the Godhead trinity.

Do not quench the spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything. Again, this goes back to the idleness. If you're idle, if all you do when you come to church is throw your mind in neutral and you try to coast through the service, you are going to benefit nothing.

It will do you just as good to be at home under the covers. But we are called to have our minds and our hearts both engaged in the act of worship. When we come to the Lord's house, we ought to be attentive.

We ought to be focused. We ought to be thinking about what's being said. And you ought to, I'll dare say this, question what's being said. Test everything. Test it according to the scriptures. If you find it to be true, then what you ought to do is say, amen.

And if you find it to be false, then come and get me after church and say, preacher, I was challenged by what you said right here. Can we look at the text? And those of you that are regular here know I will shut my mouth, let you speak.

And if I need to repent, I will repent. And I'll not only repent privately, but I will repent publicly because I do not want to lead you astray. You need the truth. You don't need my idea or my opinion.

You need the word of the living God. So he says, test everything. Hold fast to what is good. When you find the truth, hold on to the truth. Hold on to the truth with everything you got. And then he said, abstain from every form of evil.

Now, as a result, now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. And may your whole spirit and soul be kept in body, be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And then he tacks this on.

He who called you is faithful. Listen, we are not faithful. I'm not faithful. You are not faithful. But God is faithful. God is true. He will surely do it. And Paul puts these words down. Brothers, pray for us.

Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. This is Paul's practical instruction to the church of the living God at Thessalonica, the local body there at Thessalonica.

And I find nothing better than to have preached this to you today, that we as a local body here at Reformation Baptist Church, heed the word of the living God, that we be at peace amongst ourselves, that we abstain from evil, that we hold fast to that which is good, that we love one another, as the Apostle Peter says, with a pure heart, fervently.

There are folks on the benches beside you today who are hurting, who have lost loved ones, who are sick, who are going through troubles and trials, and they just need you. To be there and to say, you know what, I don't have the answers, but if you just need to cry on my shoulder, I'm here for you.

Go ahead and let it rip. I'll hold the Kleenex. If you've got to wipe your nose on my shoulder or my shirt, go right ahead. I'm talking about serious, compassionate care for one another. The elders, as the elders, we try to care for you as a body, and we've got plans this year to extend our care for the body, to do better as elders, to oversee the flock of God over which the Lord has made us overseers.

But my friends, the real care happens amongst you as individual church members when you lean on one another.