1 Thessalonians – Lesson 5
Paul finished up chapter 3 with bringing up the heart and how the Lord wants to establish your heart unblameable in holiness before God.
1THESS 3:12 And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you:
1THESS 3:13 To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
After you get saved that is the Goal that Jesus has for you. He wants to stablish your heart unblameable in holiness before God.
And then Paul starts going into what that means. What would a heart established unblameable in holiness look like.
Many people hear the word holiness and they twist it all around. They call good evil. They use slurs such as holier than thou. They think that holiness means considering yourself better than everyone else and that you are super judgmental and other such nonsense.
As we went thru Chapter 4 we clearly see what Paul is talking about and it is nothing like what critics say it is.
The first thing Paul mentioned is walking to please God.
1THESS 4:1 Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.
He is God, He is the creator, He saved our sinful souls. So it is only right that we should walk the walk to please God.
The 2nd thing was follow the commandments that Jesus gave.
1THESS 4:2 For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus.
Next was possess your vessel in sanctification and honor.
1THESS 4:4 That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;
We are to be in control of our passions.
And then came do not defraud your brother. So no lying, cheating, stealing and the like.
Then came do your own business and work. And do not cause a bunch of trouble while you are doing it.
And then came walking honestly toward the lost.
1THESS 4:12 That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.
And then don’t sorrow for those loved ones who died like the world does who has no hope.
Every one of those is good and honorable and right and just. Not one of them is bad in any way. Don’t cheat, or lie or steal or be lazy and be in control of your passions. And be real. Walk the walk.
Really genuinely give your heart to Jesus and let Him do a work in your heart and let Him have His way.
This is what letting Jesus establish your heart in holiness look like. It is all 100 percent good and absolutely nothing like what the lost world says it is. Holiness before God is a good thing. It is good for you and it is good for others.
And then Paul brought up what we call the Rapture and this fits right in with Chapter 3:13
1THESS 3:13 To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
So Paul really did not switch subjects. The goal is Jesus establishing your heart before He comes back and Paul just gave more additional information about Jesus coming back.
And it really fits with what an established heart unblameable looks like. If your heart is stablished in holiness before God, then you are looking for and living like Jesus is coming back.
We have seen before in the writings of Paul where he will introduce a topic and then keep giving more information that pertains to that, and then when he is done with that topic he will bring what he was talking about up again.
And everything in between the first mention and the last mention of the main topic in some way is related to that topic.
Some people get confused because when Paul mentions something that needs more detail, he will pause and drill down into that and give those details and then move back and gives the next thing and then the next thing.
And all the while Paul will pause and give more detail and then move to the next thing and pause and give more detail. But all of it is somehow related to the main point that is mentioned at the beginning and then at the ending.
In this case the beginning is Chapter 3:13 and the ending is
1THESS 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And all in between Paul has been dealing with what a heart looks like that is established and preserved blameless in holiness unto the coming of our Lord.
So in Chapter 5 verse 5 Paul is still dealing with what that heart looks like in real practical ways.
Paul now uses a few illustrations to help make his point. He is going to contrast total opposite things side by side.
He is going to compare light and day with night and darkness.
In the daytime things are clearly seen both by you and by others. In the dark of night things are not easily seen and things can be done that are concealed. Things that others cannot see.
And if you take a good look around our world you will see that this is true. Most adultery, gambling, drunkenness, breaking and entering, and so on happens at night.
The company that I worked a quarter a century for had people time and again steal a car and drive it thru the front windows or door, and then run in and grab merchandise and take it to a waiting getaway vehicle.
And it always happened at night in the darkness. We never had anyone do that during the day.
Yes I know dark wickedness also happens during the day, but overwhelmingly spiritual darkness gravitates more to the night.
This truth is what Paul is using as an illustration.
1THESS 5:5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
When we got saved we became the Sons of God. We are at that moment adopted into the family of God. Before that we were of a different family. We were unrepentant sinners and we were children of darkness.
The point being made here is since we are now children of the day, children of light, then we should not be doing the things that children of darkness do.
1THESS 5:6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
1THESS 5:7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
1THESS 5:8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
We are children of light, therefore because of that then act differently. Watch and be sober.
Sober as in serious. Watch for Jesus and live seriously for Him while we do it.
And put on the breastplate of faith and love. A breastplate is a piece of armor that protects the heart.
And the heart is what all of this is about. 1st let the Lord have His way and do His work in your heart and 2nd protect your heart.
Whatever gains Jesus has made in your heart, protect them. Don’t let the world or the flesh or the devil take them away.
And what do you use to do that. We are told here. The breastplate of faith and love.
The moment you quit or even back off believing and trusting in the Lord and His Word and His ways you are in danger of backsliding. Make an effort to keep putting on faith every day.
And love. Biblical love is a verb. It is not an emotion only feeling. Biblical love does and acts and cares. And when you let the love of Christ use you and His love flows thru you to others, it has an effect upon your heart.
In loving others, the love in your heart for the Lord grows. God uses the action of love to establish your heart.
The moment you quit loving others you are also in danger of backsliding. Faith and love that is being exercised and used is a breastplate of armor that protects the gains that Jesus has made in stablishing your heart in holiness before God.
And hopefully you already caught onto this over the last few weeks.
But it is holiness before God. It is not holiness before man. The goal is not being seen of men. It is not what men think of you.
The issue is the condition of your heart before God.
Don’t take what I am about to say wrong. Others matter. Others are important.
But in this area, the area of the condition of your heart before God, it is only what God thinks about it that is important.
And what the Lord thinks about our hearts should be very important to us. Working on our hearts is His goal from the time we get saved until we see Him face to face. It is very important to Him.
Our goal should be the same as His goal. Our goal should be to let the Lord work and to cooperate with Him in this. We should want Him to stablish our hearts in holiness before Him.
Many Christians don’t. They really got saved. Turned from and to. They called upon Him with a repentant heart and believed and got saved.
And from that moment on they are no longer appointed unto wrath and they have salvation. And what God gives, cannot be taken away. You are saved for Eternity. And that is a great comfort.
1THESS 5:9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
1THESS 5:10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
1THESS 5:11 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.
Since we have salvation, comfort each other in it and edify each other, which means to build up.
So never lose the comfort of your salvation.
But having the comfort of salvation does not mean that you should behave badly. It actually should move you to let God work on your heart and to behave the way He wants you to.
1THESS 5:12 And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you;
1THESS 5:13 And to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves.
And one of the ways you are to behave properly in is to respect the man preaching and a reason is given, for their work’s sake.
And another proper way to behave is to be at peace among yourselves.
Jesus gets upset with us when there is fighting in a local church. There are many places in the N.T. where we are instructed to be in unity. Be on the same page. Suffer wrong rather than fight.
A heart that is established in holiness before God will be a heart that will refuse to take part in fighting with others in the local church.
Years ago when Johnathan was attacking me from the pulpit and spreading lies, you all know this, I refused to take part. I refused to fight back. Why?
Because God tells us right here and in many other places not to.
And the more I refused to disobey God and fight the angrier he got. We finally just had to separate. A heart walking with God will be a heart that will not fight in the local church.
Next is a great list of things that the heart walking with God will do.
1THESS 5:14 Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.
Warning the unruly is for their benefit. It is talking about those who are not letting God work on their heart and they are in willful disobedience to what Jesus wants them to do.
And if you can warn them and help them get on track, then it is actually for their best. And that needs to be the goal. This warning needs to be done in love with their best in mind and not done for power or pride of the one giving the warning.
We are to comfort the feebleminded and we are to support the weak. That means work. Doing that is going to require some time.
And a huge one, be patient toward all men. That is your brother in Christ and the lost man.
Having patience can be very difficult at times. And often is a huge issue when we try to do that on our own. But remember this whole section is about Jesus doing a work establishing your heart.
You have to ask Him for patience and for His help in this and then let Him do a work.
1THESS 5:15 See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.
In Christianity there is no room for, “but he did it to me first”. You cannot find justification for doing evil to someone even if they did it to you first. We are not to get even.
The but they have it coming argument carries no weight. Neither does the but you don’t know what they did to me argument. We are not to render evil for evil regardless of the hurt or the circumstances.
Instead we are to always follow that which is good. And then comes the declaration that we are to do this both to Christians and to all men.
Following good would include appropriate judgment and proper punishment. Turning a blind eye to evil is not good. Here is an extreme example. If someone does the evil of rape, it would not be good to ignore that and let them go. That needs to be punished. Executing proper justice is NOT returning evil for evil.
Verse 15 is not talking about forgoing justice. It is about doing wrong for the sake of revenge. If someone does us wrong, we are not to do wrong back. And if the evil done us is something small (like gossip), then give it to the Lord and let it go.
If the evil is of a type that demands justice, then let justice be done, but it needs to be good and honorable justice.
1THESS 5:15 See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.
The heart that is established in holiness before God lets God handle it. Vengeance is mine saith the Lord.
Now to wrap up the letter Paul rapid fires off a remaining list of things.
1THESS 5:16 Rejoice evermore.
Christianity is not a downer. We are to rejoice. And we have a lot of blessings and the wonderful miracle of salvation and we have an Almighty Lord and a guaranteed Eternity full of wonder and peace. So live like it and rejoice evermore. That means not just 1 hour a week but all the time.
In the good times and in the bad. When on the mountain top or in the valley. When things are clear sailing and when in the middle of a trial or tribulation. Rejoice evermore.
1THESS 5:17 Pray without ceasing.
Everyday, and about everything. Stay in contact with the Lord.
1THESS 5:18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
The heart walking with God will be giving thanks to Him for everything.
1THESS 5:19 Quench not the Spirit.
The heart that Jesus is establishing and the heart that is walking with God will not quench the Spirit.
1THESS 5:20 Despise not prophesyings.
The heart that is letting Jesus work on it will not despise preaching.
1THESS 5:21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
Use good spiritual discernment on everything. Don’t fall for bad things. Examine all things first and then hold fast that which is good.
1THESS 5:22 Abstain from all appearance of evil.
This means exactly what it says. If anything appears evil, then stay away from it. Do not partake in it.
1THESS 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1THESS 5:24 Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.
Jesus is faithful. He wants to work on your heart and prepare it for when you see Him. He is all powerful and He is faithful. He will always do what He says. Always.
So since His goal is to estabhlish your heart, then He will do it.
However, He will not force anyone. You have to voluntarily want Him and let Him do His work in your heart.
And now the final few verses to close the first letter to the Thessalonians.
1THESS 5:25 Brethren, pray for us.
I think that this has been the plea of every preacher and missionary that ever lived. It certainly is something that I have heard from every missionary that came and presented his work. It is not something that they say because it is expected.
They ask us to pray because they need prayer. They understand that they cannot do the work. God actually has to do the work. They can spend their whole lives laboring but if they don’t rely upon God then nothing will really get accomplished.
They understand that it is God’s plan for us to pray and ask God to empower the work. They understand that God does answer prayer. They have a heart for the people they are ministering to and they want God to do a work in the hearts of the people.
They want to see souls saved, and then follow Jesus. They want to see people grow in the Lord. They love people and they love their Lord. They want to do a work for Him and they know it will not happen unless people are praying.
1THESS 5:26 Greet all the brethren with an holy kiss.
1THESS 5:27 I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren.
1THESS 5:28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
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