December 13 Sermon: He is Faithful
Consider these questions as we look at 1 Thessalonians 5:14-26:
How does the concept of rejoicing always, praying without ceasing, and giving thanks in all circumstances relate to trusting in God's grace and mercy?
In what ways can the idea of "testing everything" be applied to discerning God's will in our lives and avoiding evil influences?
How does the assurance of God's faithfulness, as demonstrated in the promise of Jesus' coming and salvation, provide comfort and encouragement in our daily walk of faith?
Transcript:
One of the draws of sports are the moments when the issue is in doubt and someone has to step up in a big moment. We love to see the clutch three pointer, the single to drive in that runner on second in the bottom of the ninth, and the long field goal that splits the uprights as time expires. If you are like me though you’ve been burnt before. The person at the plate has struck out and ended the game. The kicker that was reliable all season misses a chip shot field goal in the playoffs, and that last second shot hits off the back of the rim and bounces away as the buzzer sounds. As painful as some of those moments can be I think we like the tension that it creates. What would sports be without it? What would it be like know the result before you see it. What if the person at the plate came through every time? Now, I can’t guarantee that but I have known a result before I saw it. I’m not talking about having a game I’m recording spoiled by seeing the result. For years now I have watched Major League Baseball with their MLB.tv package. It’s the best way to watch an out of market team. It’s great because you can watch it on your TV, in your web browser, or on your mobile device. Well, I usually set up the mobile app and it can give you notifications of game events. That’s great for when you aren’t watching because it keeps you up to date on the game. Well, because of the nature of internet streaming there is often significant lag between what is happening in a stadium miles from my couch. Most of the time it’s pretty close but some times a notification will sneak through the app on my phone a minute or so before I observe it with my eyes. The first time this really happened the Indians were down by a few runs and the bases were loaded with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Normally I would be hopefully but Nick Swisher was coming up and I’d seen this movie before. I started looking for the remote to back out of the game because I didn’t want to torture myself watching what I knew was going to happen. As I was surveying the couch to find the little black piece of plastic that could alleviate my future pain my phone dinged. I looked down and expected to see a game over warning. Instead, he had placed the ball in the seats in right center field. A grand slam. I tried not to react too obviously that it was good news and I watched the next minute of baseball knowing for sure that one of the baseballs was going to become a souvenir. It felt good to be confident and to know that the guy at the plate was going to come through.
As we approach Christmas and look forward to his coming in the manger to save us from our sin we also look forward to the promise of his second coming. We don’t know when it will happen but we can watch in anticipation knowing that he will return to judge the living and the dead and to take his people to himself. We aren’t going to get notifications but we have the holy word of God and we trust that he will not only be faithful to return for his people but he will be at work in us to sanctify us through his word.
This is an important reminder for us in this Christmas season. In the present season of our lives everything feels uncertain, right? In the midst of this uncertainty our hope and peace must come from the one who has come through for his people and will always do so.
Our passage today is relatively short but it packs a real punch. There are multiple statements from the Apostle Paul that come at us but they are so applicable to us as we desire to serve God in his world in our daily lives.
So, let’s break this down a little like we always do, so we can take this instruction from God’s holy Word and apply it to our lives.
First we see that we are called to seek the will of God in our lives. It is spelled out for us pretty clearly what that looks like. We will see that this isn’t something secret that we have try to ascertain. It is about living a humble and godly life or prayer and thanksgiving.
Secondly, we are called to abstain from evil. We are to be discerning and keep ourselves from the things that can move us away from God’s will. It can be hard to be discerning but it is an important part of being faithful to the call of God on our lives.
Lastly, we see that God is faithful. Not only do we know that he will be faithful to return for his people. God comes through for us to sanctify us and prepare us for that coming day of the Lord.
And so we come to our first point in the first three verses of what we have read today.
As you read the three statements here by Paul you get some short statements but they pack a punch. They are a small bite but they are packed with nutrients. The first thing that we are to do is rejoice always.
Now, that seems like a simple enough command but those two words are obviously really hard to do. We are going to have stuff going on in our lives that is tough. I think it is important that we understand that Paul isn’t telling us that we need to artificially make ourselves happy even if stuff is going wrong in our lives. We aren’t to be an ear to ear grin on the outside and have a dark cloud on the inside. What Paul is pushing us to do is to rejoice in the Lord. This isn’t being saccharin sweet just for the sake of being sweet. We aren’t rejoicing just to rejoice. What is the driving force for motivation in living the Christian life for Paul. It’s the gospel. It is the truth that Christ has fully paid for my sins in his life and death and in his resurrection we have the certain hope of eternal life.
If we are going to rejoice we are going to rejoice in that truth as that what informs our lives. We can look at the life of Paul who is giving us this instruction and know for sure that his life was peaches and cream every day. Shipwrecks, imprisonments, and all kinds of persecution, yet what does he do? He rejoices in the salvation that he has because of the work of Jesus for him. That is what guides him.
He also says we are to pray without ceasing. What does this mean? We know we can’t take this with a wooden literalism. There is no way you can pray without ceasing. You have to sleep. So what is this driving at? It is about an attitude of submitting things to God. Trusting that our only hope is that he will care for us by his sovereign and gracious hand. When we hear of trouble or people in need we want to immediately go to God because we know that he is in control and he is the one who will provide. But again, just like rejoicing continually this is hard. It is about have our minds directed towards the things of God instead of the world.
And we see this in his third exhortation for us and again we need to remember that this is coming Paul. Like I said, this is the guy who was shipwrecked and imprisoned. When he says to give thanks in everything we should pay attention. He had every reason to wonder why his life was hard. He was doing the will of God. He was the Apostle taking the gospel to the Gentiles. Shouldn’t everything be clear paths for him. Shouldn’t God make everything full speed ahead for him because of his vital mission?
In our limited minds we think that should have been God’s will for Paul right? But what does Paul say the will of God for us is? That we should rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all circumstances. We constantly think that we have to divine the will of God for us but right here it is spelled out. Rejoice, pray, and give thanks. Easier said than done but it is vital that we understand this. Some of you right now are going through some really difficult circumstances and you might be wondering if maybe you missed the boat somewhere. At some point you didn’t know God’s secret will for you and because you messed that up you are either being punished for missing it or you just aren’t getting God’s best for your life. But, that isn’t what we mean by the will of God. God’s will for you is to pursue him despite the circumstances that you come up against. God’s will is to be content in what he has sovereignly blessed you with. God’s will is for you to keep his commands and be faithful to him no matter what the world may say.
And so we have seen what we do in order to pursue God’s will and now we will see another element of this as we see that we are to abstain from evil.
These come across in much the same way as the first three don’t they. Short and to the point. The first one here though is not language we would generally use. Do not quench the Spirit. We see that word quench and we would think of it as a good thing. Maybe, like me, the first thing you think of is being thirsty on a hot day and a huge cup of ice water is presented to you and you quench your thirst. The image we need to understand here does involve water but it isn’t a good thing. In the New Testament the Holy Spirit is often represented as fire. Think to the day of Pentecost and the tongues of fire resting on the heads of the apostles. So, to quench the Spirit means that you would try to put out it’s flame.
And from the next verse we understand what this means. He tells them not to despise prophecies but test everything. And that last part is very important. We are to test that which we hear.
I point out regularly that the idea of prophecy in the Bible is different than what we naturally think of. Yes, to prophecy means to predict the future. That is a common meaning but usually to prophecy meant to declare the word of the Lord and that often didn’t include trying to divine the future. And with what Paul is saying about testing everything we have to understand that he isn’t suggesting that they should just let people throw out predictions out like throwing bologna at the wall and see what sticks. They are to listen to the proclamations of the word and test them. Do they line up with scripture? Are they consistent with what they have been taught by the apostles. We don’t know what the situation was in Thessalonica but it seems like people were proclaiming the word of the Lord and they were just dismissing the whole process without any discernment for the truth of the proclamation. Whether it was prophetic words such as sermons or prophetic predictions the point is true either way. They are to show discernment and it is important that we do the same thing. When you hear someone speaking and claiming to speak for God we should discerning. We want to be sure that what we hear is true. This is why it is essential that we know what the word of God says so that we can test everything and hold fast to what is good.
We want to do this because the things of God are going to be shown to us in what is true, right, and good but Paul takes it even further. Abstain from every form of evil. Don’t mess around with it. Not only can you be led astray but you can damage your witness. You can give those who look up to you the impression that what you are doing is acceptable. That is why we are called to do these things so that we can teach what is acceptable to God and we can grow in holiness.
We’ve seen so far what that looks like as we saw we are to pursue the will of God and then these instruction on what to avoid. And now we are going to see that there is a purpose to this. We are growing in holiness because God is faithful to his covenant people.
In these two verses we see a benediction to the book and it is a prayer for the people of God to grow.
As we start with verse 23 I think it is so important that we see who is doing the work here. Paul has told us how we can be obedient to God and grow in faith but who does he put the process of being sanctified into our hands? No, his prayer is that God will do this. If we understand the theology of Paul he is down on human ability to save themselves and to grow in godliness on their own. Instead, what does he teach. That God is at work in his people to save them and to grow them in holiness. We know that he does this through means. He doesn’t just poof us into perfect holiness. That would be nice, to wake up and have the temptations of sin to go away and have our hearts inclined towards God instead of the things of the flesh but that isn’t how this works. God is working in us through his word and Spirit to do this. We are shaped by the Word and the promises of God to have our desires conformed to his. God uses the proclamation of the word to do this and that is why it is important to not only read the word and hear the word of God but it is why it vital that we proclaim the word to our brothers and sisters.
And what does Paul look to here. The end goal is that our whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The idea expressed here is that God is the one who makes us blameless. We trust that he does this through the sacrifice of Jesus. I will not be blameless on the day of Jesus Christ because when he returns I finally figured out how to put away all my sin. I will not be blameless on the day of the Lord Jesus because I read more Bible or prayed a bunch. I am blameless in the face of final judgment because Jesus took on human flesh, suffered and died for my sin, and rose again for my justification. Period. That’s it. We grow in our trust of that truth and we grow in our reliance on him. We grow in our desire to put away sin not because we’ve figured out some trick but because God is faithful to sanctify his people through his word and Spirit just as he promised.
Notice how our passage for today ends. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. We know this to be true. God the Son did not take on human flesh to save a people for himself and then abandon them to their own devices to figure it out on their own. God the Son came to earth to rescue his people. Period. He did this in his life, death, resurrection, and ascension and now he has not left us on our own. He is faithful and he will do it. We need to trust the means that he has ordained. Trust that as you have heard the word today that it’s going to work. That’s why Biblically framed worship is filled with scripture. When we say that we believe the Bible, it isn’t just for the moral stuff or the social stuff. We believe that it is sufficient for everything and that includes growing us in holiness. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.
This is a clear passage. There is plenty to come away with but I want to draw out two specific applications for us as we leave from here to step out into God’s world this week.
First, trust the will of God for your life. Again, as I stated this isn’t something secret or hidden. You don’t need to go out into the wilderness and see if you can feel what you need to do next. As we have seen today the will of God for us is to rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all circumstances. Honestly, as you think about that list, it might be easier to go on some quest and try and figure out something secret because this is hard to do but truly it all starts with understanding the grace and mercy of God. It begins when we trust that he is sovereign and in control and so we submit ourselves to him, not only for the big things but also our growing in holiness and faith. It is one of those things that is easier said that done but it is important that we trust gospel. And I believe that is why we are so easily distracted from trusting this will of God for us. It’s hard. It is easier to pursue the hypothetical and secret than it is to actually rejoice, pray, and be thankful.
And secondly, trust the promise of God. Don’t think that you are going to do this on your own. God is calling you to this and he is faithful. HE will surely do it. I think one of the greatest frustrations in the Christian life is that we try over and over to do what we are called to do on our own power. As we think about Christmas coming up lets contemplate what we have learned from God’s holy word this year. God created the world and when it fell into sin he made a promise. That promise was jeopardized by a brother murdering his brother, it was jeopardized by unrighteousness and violence. It was in danger because of infertility and as you progress through the Old Testament you will see the promise to save his people in danger from Pharaohs, invading powers, famines, zealous people trying to destroy the promised line. It seems like at every turn the promise of God would be thwarted by Satan and the things of the world.
But in just a few days we will remember God the Son taking on human flesh. God kept his promise. If he is faithful to keep his promise in the face of famine, murder, and tyranny he is not going to abandon you. He has promised to be at work in you through his word and Spirit and he will do. He who call you is faithful; he will surely do it.
