1Thess3

PART 3

Part 3: Detailed Practical Teaching - for living the Christian Life

15. Sexual Purity 4:3-7

16. Brotherly Love 4:9,10

17. The Quiet Life 4:11,12

18. Respect Spiritual Authority 5:12,13

19. The Idle and the Timid 5:14

20. Suffering Others 5:14

21. Good Heartedness 5:15

22. Good Heartedness (2) 5:15

23. Be Joyful 5:16-18

24. Giving Thanks 5:16-18

25. Pray Continually? 5:16-18

26. God's Will for You 5:16-18

27. Quenching the Spirit 5:19

28. Care with Prophecy 5:20

29. Test Everything 5:21,22

30. Hold the Good 5:21,22

31. Avoid Evil 5:21,22

15. Sexual Purity

1 Thess 4:3-7 It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.

In the light of the “anything goes” mentality of much of our modern world - and certainly portrayed by the media – these verses create what one might call a severe culture clash. It is interesting that the apostle picks this subject as the first one for giving practical instructions for daily living.

Let's start by observing the general principles that are laid out here, of which there are several. First of all “It is God's will that you should be sanctified.” (4:3a) The word ‘sanctified' means set apart to God or very simply, different from the rest of the world. Now why should this be? The answer is seen in the big picture of the Bible: God made the world perfect and gave man free will. Man used free will to reject God's design and do his own thing. This meant that we see sorts of behaviour that are contrary to God's design and what we so often fail to understand is that when you live contrary to God's design your life ‘breaks down' – just like a car will when the driver ignores the manufacturer's handbook. When we come back to God through Jesus Christ and allow the Holy Spirit in us to guide and direct us, He will guide our lives back onto God's design and thus these lives will be quite different from those in the rest of the world. Moreover we will then be in a place where God can bless our lives in ways that those living outside His design cannot receive.

But hold on to those fundamentals: 1. The world rejects God's design in its behaviour. 2. The result of living contrary to God's design means breakdown. 3. Jesus leads us back into living according to God's design and thus, 4. These lives receive God's blessing.

The second principle, that flows on from that is that, “God did not call us to be impure.” (4:7a) Any behaviour that runs contrary to God's design means our lives have been tainted with damaging behaviour, our lives are no longer the pure and good lives they were when God originally designed and made them. If you live contrary to God's design in this area, be under no illusion, God says you are impure and that impurity will destroy you unless it is dealt with appropriately before God.

The third principle is that Gods us now, “to live a holy life.” (4:7b) Holy means, in its weakest sense, associated with God. Holy means different, like God, perfect. Holy means living according to God's will, God's design. That, we must repeat again and again is what is crucial. Failure to do this means we retain destructive forces in our lives and we fail to receive God's blessing, God's goodness poured out. Instead we tolerate destructive behaviour patterns in our lives and wonder why they are going wrong, or why we feel there must be something better.

So Paul gives his first practical instruction: “that you should avoid sexual immorality.” (4:3b) Now the godless world challenges that there is such a thing as ‘sexual immorality' simply because it is godless and therefore denies that there is a Creator who has designed things to work in a particular way. ‘Immorality' suggests that there is a ‘morality', a way laid down that is right and ‘immorality' is contrary to that way laid down. To see the ‘morality', the way laid down in God's design, we must go back to the beginning: “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.” (Gen 2:21,22) There, even before the Fall, we have the design laid out: one man with one woman, a husband and a wife, a married unit, a committed couple, and they are designed to join together physically. It does not say for procreation but simply that they will join physically. The fact that they were naked and felt no shame shows the goodness of God's design, which ever since the Fall, had been marred, spoiled and twisted as we reject His design for our relationships.

The fruits of ignoring that initial design are varied and very obvious. Adultery, emotional distress, social and relational breakdown, jealousy, hatred, bitterness, hostility, unwanted pregnancies, abortions, sexually transmitted diseases; they are rife within our Western communities. In our folly we think we have freedom but do not realise that we are in fact reaping God's judgment. Paul describes the way God lifts off His hand of restraint from a people who ignore Him: “Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another…. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion…. , he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity.” etc. etc. (Rom 1:24-31) All these things are the fruits of unrestrained sin and they are destroying individuals, relationships and society and they are the judgment of God!

The Christian is called to a different lifestyle: “each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honourable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him.” (4:4-6) Sexual liberty is not freedom, it is the judgment of God and it bears its fruit which are obvious. Satan whispers, “Surely God didn't say,” but yes He did! These things WILL happen. On a practical and pastoral level, I have observed the goodness and grace of God that does love and accept and forgive those who have lived the lifestyle and then repented and turned back to God, but I have also noted that those who have had sex before marriage, those who have lived together, those who have divorced, these people are vulnerable more than the others in the rest of their lives and struggle more to hold fast to God's way. God's grace IS there but it also requires a total rejection in the heart of those prior godless ways – because that is what they were. If you sleep around you are being godless. If you are unfaithful in relationships, you are godless and as Paul goes on to say – “The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you.” (4:6). You have been warned.

PART 3

16. Brotherly Love

1 Thess 4:9,10 Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia . Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more.

There was a part of a verse in the previous group about sexual purity that we did not comment upon because it seems it provides Paul's link to this encouragement to love each other even more. It is, “ in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him.” (4:6a) What he seems to be suggesting is that where there is immorality – crossing that boundary of one man with one woman in a committed relationship – it can so often affect a third party, a husband perhaps or another member even of the Christian family. If you enter into an illicit relationship with someone and they are already in a relationship with another, that other person is being wronged and being taken advantage of through what you are wrongly doing.

When you put this alongside God's teaching about love, you realise this just cannot be, it must not be. So now he picks up on the general teaching about loving one another. That was clearly something that the apostles had taught in their initial founding of this church and so Paul doesn't really need to go over it again. But actually, in their case, even beyond the fact that they have had this teaching, they have clearly put it into practice and they have become known for their love to all believers in that whole area. It seems almost unnecessary to bring teaching on this matter having picked it up because of his warning against temptations in the sexual area, bit it is something so vital that he wants to urge them to do it more and more and (implied) be even more widely known for their love.

Perhaps it seems so obvious, this teaching on love but practically it becomes one of the most important features of the life of the church. In the Garden of Gethsemane , after Jesus had prayed for protection of the believers, he prayed, “I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one , Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” (John 17:20,21). Now how can you have oneness without love? This is vital. How will the world see and believe if we are not one and how can we be one without love?

Now the teaching on love is simple and straightforward. First we find: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: `Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Mt 22:37-40) That is basic but then Jesus taught, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (Jn 13:34,35). Jesus' love was sacrificial love, love that lays down its life for others. One of the early Church Fathers wrote of the reputation of the early church, “See, they say, how they love one another.”

Now we have to be honestly practical. Do we see this sacrificial love in the life of our local churches. I am going to suggest that so often it is absent. If that is so here, I suggest, are some reasons why it is so.

First, because this is not taught as of first importance. If regular preaching and teaching does not remind the congregation that we are called to be a congregation of love, we will allow things in that this hinder love.

Second, because we allow behaviours and attitudes that are unloving. If we fail to love, care and accept every person who comes to us we will be unloving. If we tolerate gossip, criticisms, jealousy, envy, or prejudices we are unloving. Be honest, are any of these in our local church?

Third we do not cultivate and develop structures that develop first fellowship, then trust, then love. Big meetings can convey the message; little gatherings provide opportunity for love to grow. Although you can have the general attitude of love towards all, the practical in-depth feeling and expression of love develops when you relate to people closely, i.e. you fellowship with them. In that environment, love grows practically, a trust grows, security develops, needs are shared – and then met.

These are just some of the reasons that love does not grow within the local fellowship. A church that focuses on ritual is more concerned with ceremony than with love. A church that focuses on singing can fail in love. A church that is known for its teaching can still fail in the area of love. A Pentecostal or charismatic fellowship can have all the gifts and still miss love. The apostle Paul said it to the church at Corinth : “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love , I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.” (1 Cor 13:1-3)

Sometimes we get clever and knowledgeable about love in the New Testament and talk about Greek agape love that is God's love that is seen in utter commitment and is the sacrificial love that Jesus spoke about that we referred to earlier, and philadelphia which is brotherly love, a love between friends. What we find in this verse is, “ N ow about brotherly love ( Philadelphia ) we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love (agape) each other.” What we have therefore, is Paul saying, “We don't really need to teach you about brotherly love that you find between friends because God has taught you this deeper love of commitment and sacrifice, and so if that is the love you express, it will cover all eventualities, especially that which we would hope to see between brothers and sisters in the local congregation. Isn't that great! Is that the love you find in your local congregation? If not, are you working on it?

PART 3

17. The Quiet Life

1 Thess 4:11,12 Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

We live in a day of noise, of opinions, of twenty-four hour news. Some may seek for a quieter life by not having loud music on all the time, by not reading papers, and by not watching the news. Perhaps that is like some of the Christians from earlier days who went into monasteries or went and lived in the desert to escape worldliness. But many people would like ‘the quiet life', the life free from trouble and upset – but it evades them. Arguments ensue, family members get into trouble, there is pressure at work, things break down, accidents happen. Anxiety, worry, stress are familiar.

Now come on, says Paul, you don't have to have that sort of life, “ Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life.” Put another way, make it a goal of your life to be restful, content and at peace with the world. How could they go about doing that? Well, he goes on, “mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you.” Make your own life the focus and ensure you are living that well. In an economy that was neither concerned with theory, ideas, paper nor the Internet, work was primarily physical. To get on with life meant get on with the family business, usually working with your hands.

Paul certainly would not say that today, but that was how it was then. Perhaps to let these three things sink in a little more it might be good to think of the opposites. Live a quiet life, he started out. i.e. don't be a noisy, loud-mouthed, over-bearing assort of person. Mind your own business, he continued, i.e. don't be a busybody interfering with other people's lives, pushing in where you are not wanted, being a know-it-all. Work, he said finally, i.e. don't be a lazy sponger on others, don't be a scrounger, don't be a benefit grabber. One thing all those three sorts of people exhibit is lack of self worth The noisy loud mouth is so often covering up what they really feel about themselves. The busybody is trying to be important to make up for what they feel about themselves. The lazy sponger has lost all self-respect and has little sense of self-worth.

But then Paul comes out with two other reasons to live as he's said – quiet, self-esteemed, and hard working. First, “so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders.” (v.12a) Do you remember Jesus taught, “let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Mt 5:16) Our lives are to reveal the Father and His love and goodness. The way we live out our lives on a daily basis should be such that as we express, love, care, goodness, kindness, gentleness, wisdom and grace, others see and wonder and we win their respect and their openness to the Lord.

But there was a second reason: “so that you will not be dependent on anybody.” Why is that such a bad thing? Well God is a giver and a provider and He doesn't want us, as far as it is possible, to become reliant on other people rather than Him. However this is not to be taken to extremes for we know that in the early days of the church they were inter-dependent and thus we find, “All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need,” (Acts 2:44,45) and later, “There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.” (Acts 4:34,35) There clearly were there those who were needy and they were reliant upon others in the church to care for them. Some in that society would naturally have such needs and this became clear when a problem arose: “In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.” (Acts 6:1) Widows and orphans are a natural grouping of those who would need to be reliant upon others.

The fact that the second coming has been mentioned so often in this letter, and more details follow these verses, may be an indication that in those early days they all expected Jesus to be returning at any moment and the temptation, therefore, was to say, ‘well, why bother to work if our future is limited?' The truth is that we will not know when Jesus is returning. Jesus asked his followers, “when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (Lk 18:8). Faith is as much about letting your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven as it is about anything . That ‘letting your light shine' is also as much about how you lead a quiet life, minding your own business and working at providing for yourself and for your family as anything else as well.

Do we catch the import of these verses before us here? By doing this we will not only NOT be a drain on others but we WILL be a testimony to others. Also perhaps in so doing, we may become those who resource others instead of them having to resource you. They sound such mundane words but they are fundamental to the sort of people we are: Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.” May it be so!

PART 3

18. Respect Spiritual Authority

1 Thess 5:12,13 Now we ask you, brothers, 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.

We jump a number of verses before we come to the next set of practical instructions, simply because Paul had spoken in some detail in the intervening verses about the coming of Jesus a second time. Now he steps back into the present time and deals with another concern or simple matter of teaching to be considered, that of those who work for the Gospel in the local church. At the end of that previous teaching he said, “ Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing,” (5:11) which, flowing out of that teaching about waiting for Christ's return, seems to be saying, “As we think he will come soon, make sure he does find you doing the best you can and so keep on building one another up and, (in the light of that which we considered in the previous meditation that came just before that Second Coming teaching,) “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life,” (4:11) and make sure you do this in every aspect of your life and the life of the church.”

He is, perhaps from his own experience, mindful that church life isn't always the peaceful place it should be, and especially in respect of leaders and the flock. A simple reason for this may be that the enemy knows that if he can bring down the leaders, the flock will be more vulnerable and so leaders become first in his sights for attack. Paul's letter (especially 2 Cor) show that often he was under pressure from the enemy through the flock. Indeed we noted that earlier in the letter a number of verses were defensive about how they had handled themselves when they had been with them. Rumours had obviously circulated or grumbles noticed.

So now he comes and gently asks: “Now we ask you brothers.” That is quite a gentle approach. It is not a strong demand as Paul sometimes makes when urging or giving instructions. His request is to respect their local leaders and in so doing he notes three things about them. First, “respect those who work hard among you.” I have noticed in church life there is banter about the leader getting ‘a real job'. Having been in leadership for over twenty five years (and now retired), I am utterly convinced that unless you have been in that role you do not have a clue as to the pressures that come on church leaders. From the congregation's point of view the vicar, the minister, the pastor, the elder, call him (or her today) what you will, has a dead easy job. After all they are just there to lead on a Sunday aren't they. Well if that is all you feel they do, you really are clueless! First of all these men and women carry the burden of the church and it remains with you twenty four hours a day. Not for you leaving the job behind when you leave the office. When people call for you in a crisis, they may do it in the middle of the night – I have been called out in the early hours. You are there as the leader, the guide, the director, the counsellor, and so much more. You are also the brunt of people's criticisms which may vary from not liking the songs sung on Sunday, the length or content of the sermon, the way you conduct the prayer meeting and so on. When I consider all the leaders I know (and it is a lot), MOST of them have been shot to pieces at some time in their ministry, and that goes from the vicar with a traditional, grumbling congregation of twenty to the minister of a large number whose role is to guide bleating sheep gradually into the path of sanctification – often when they don't want to go down it. Sorry if this sounds a grouse, but many if not most do not know how hard their leaders labour in this role. Respect them for it.

Now part of this kickback from the enemy is because of the second description that Paul gives: “who are over you in the Lord”. Leaders are God's spiritual authority and in a days when we distrust authority, because there have been so many abuses of it in public life, that distrust often flows over to our feelings about those in spiritual leadership. These are those who struggle to hear the word from God, who struggle to counter the works – the lies and the deceptions – of the enemy, as he tries to upset and draw away the flock, and who struggle to keep the peace among fractious people. Christians shouldn't be like that but they are – and that is why Paul has to speak as he does in this letter.

But the third reason even more gives us understanding why this state of affairs so often prevails: “and who admonish you.” Dictionary definitions for ‘admonish' are “to caution against specific faults, to warn, to reprove mildly, to urge or exhort.” This IS part of the role of the spiritual leader. Do you remember Paul's description of the purpose of Scripture: “useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” (2 Tim 3:16).This is all the work of the Holy Spirit in bringing about our sanctification, our being changed into the likeness of Jesus. Where there is resistance because sin has not been fully dealt with in a life, that is where upset occurs and the leader carries the brunt of it.

For this reason Paul concludes, “Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work.” (5:13a) We will do this when we take to heart some of the things I have said in this study. When we realise the scope of their activities, their role in God and their being in the front line of the enemy's attack, then we will hold them in the highest regard and when we allow the Spirit to touch us over this, we will find a love for them we hadn't had before. So in respect of them and the rest of the church he concludes, “live in peace with each other.” If you heed these things we may find ourselves with a very different church.

PART 3

19. The Idle and the Timid

1 Thess 5:14 And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.

In the previous verse the “ Live in peace with each other,” links from being at peace and have respect in relation to leaders and now with the rest of the congregation, for these are now instructions about how to live at peace with the rest of the people of God. When Paul says, “We urge you brothers,” he is exhorting them into action for there are three ‘actions' here and one ‘inaction'. Lets consider them one by one.

He starts, “ warn those who are idle.” When you warn someone you caution them against an imminent danger. Now the Bible has quite a lot to say about being idle, for instance simply showing how awful it is: “The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he will not even bring it back to his mouth!” (Prov 19:24) The ‘sluggard' for Solomon was a habitually lazy or idle person. He pictures his lethargy, so lazy he can't even be bothered to lift food to his mouth. But he also warns about the outcomes of idleness: “Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.” (Prov 10:4) Wealthy people (unless they have inherited it) have wealth because they have worked hard. Poor people, so often, are poor because for one reason or other they have not worked. But Solomon also points out that the lazy or idle person makes excuses for not working: “The sluggard says, "There is a lion outside!" or, "I will be murdered in the streets !” (Prov 22:13) Excuses, excuses!

In his second letter Paul is even stronger on this issue: “In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone's food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, labouring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat.” (2 Thess 3:6-10) Obviously he had received some report about people just sitting around idly doing nothing, perhaps awaiting the Lord's return. Steer clear of such people he says, follow the example we gave you, and remember the basic rule we left you with - “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.” He is not to sponge off others!

For Paul there were other dangers associated with idleness, as he said to Timothy, “they get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. And not only do they become idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things they ought not to.” (1 Tim 5:13) There is a phrase, “the devil makes work for idle hands.” The idle person sits around and all they have left to do is gossip. The writer to the Hebrews extended this to cover growing in your faith; “We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.” (Heb 6:11,12) Diligence is a means of countering idleness, working to pursue your faith. Idleness at work, at home or in the kingdom. They are all rejected in the teaching of the Bible.

But moving from those who have a wrong attitude that produces idleness, he moves on to others in the flock who simply are not strong in various ways. Next he says, “encourage the timid .” A timid person is one who lacks self-confidence. Now, intriguingly, when he was eighty, Moses might have been considered timid in his responses to the Lord at the burning bush (Ex 3) but eventually that timidity was transformed into meekness which is defined in a dictionary as ‘patient and mild; not inclined to anger or resentment' and seen in Moses, described as the meekest man on the earth, as coming out of a total reliance on the Lord. Timidity, it might be suggested, comes out of an insecurity, a lack of confidence in God. Paul had to say to Timothy, “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” (2 Tim 1:7) He had to say to the Corinthians, “If Timothy comes, see to it that he has nothing to fear while he is with you, for he is carrying on the work of the Lord, just as I am.” (1 Cor 16:10)

We have these things, in contrast to timidity, because of the Holy Spirit living within us. Paul said elsewhere, “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.” (Rom 8:16) Timidity follows when we are unsure of who we are and, even more, when we are unsure of God's love for us. Timidity, as we noted, above is related to fear and fear freezes us or immobilizes us.

Again, don't confuse timidity with gentleness. Paul had experienced this: “By the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you--I, Paul, who am " timid " when face to face with you, but "bold" when away!” (2 Cor 10:1) That's what they had said of him – oh he was so timid when he was with us and so bold when he writes his letters of correction. No, he wasn't timid with them, just gentle.

Get rid of timidity as you work to develop your relationship with the Lord, realizing who He is and who He has made you to be. Let His perfect love cast out fear (1 Jn 4:18). Be diligent in all things, working to gain a good reputation and bring glory to the Lord, allowing gentleness and meekness all grow and develop as you are able rest in Him more and more. May it be so!

PART 3

20. Suffering Others

1 Thess 5:14 And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.

So in this verse we have considered warning the idle and encouraging the timid, so now let's move on to consider the weak. Our temptation might be to say, “Shouldn't we encourage the weak” rather than simply ‘help' them, but Paul is quite careful with the words he uses. Timidity is an attitude of mind and therefore our input to the timid needs to be at the level of the mind, and that is how encouragement comes. But when he speaks about the ‘weak' there is a broader dimension to be considered for a ‘weak' person is one who lacks strength, and that may be physical, mental, spiritual or moral. To cover all these possibilities our input to them should simply be to bring ‘help' which goes from assistance and all other things that will bring relief and then permanent change to them.

Paul referred to those who were physically weak when he wrote about Communion: “ That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.” (1 Cor 11:30) Their physical weakness came from a fracture in their relationship with the Lord from their wrong behaviour, failing to appreciate the body, the other believers there, and so help in this case would be more bringing correction to their thinking and behaviour, and that was what Paul was doing as he wrote to them.

When the writer to the Hebrews wrote, “Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees,” (Heb 12:12) it appears it could have meant physical or spiritual. The context suggests he is speaking about their ill-disciplined lives and so help in that context would be bringing discipline, which is what God was doing.

Weakness sometimes can be simply in respect of our faith: “Accept him whose faith is weak , without passing judgment on disputable matters.” (Rom 14:1). Help in that context was first accepting the weaker brother or sister and then, perhaps, bringing teaching to strengthen them, which is what Paul often did. Another expression of this is the believer whose conscience is weak and so they are not as sure of themselves or their faith as they could be, which is why Paul wrote, “To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.” (1 Cor 9:22) The context for that was weak consciences.

Weakness, sometimes simply means accepting our human limitations that then drives us into the arms of God. That was what Paul was referring to when he said, “That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor 12:10) Help in such a context is simply reminding the believer that they are not their own Saviour, only God can be, and encouraging trust and perseverance.

But then Paul finishes this verse of mini-exhortations with, “be patient with everyone.” The big danger in the Christian faith is that we look down on those we consider have not matured or developed as far as we have, or we become intolerant of their slow progress and what sometimes appears silly, shallow or immature words or actions, for the truth is that we all grow and develop (or not!) at different rates. Patience is about waiting for others. Proverbs 14:29 declares, “A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly,” which suggests that our lack of patience indicates a lack of understanding of the lives of other people. I believe there is a native American saying, “Never criticize another man until you have walked in his moccasins”. Patience of other is an indication that we understand them and their life and we realise why change is slow.

Paul's ‘love verses' of 1 Cor 13 start, of course, with “Love is patient,” (1 Cor 13:1) and of course in the list of the fruit of the Spirit is patience: “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience , kindness .” (Gal 5:22) Patience should, therefore, be an expression or enabling of the Holy Spirit within us. To the Ephesians Paul wrote, “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” (Eph 4:2,3) There patience is linked with humility and unity. Humility is the awareness of the reality of who you are, a lost sinner saved only by grace. When we are humble, we will be patient with others. In seeking to establish unity in the body we will not let the slowness of others drive them away from us in our thinking.

Finally a word from Peter might help: “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Pet 3:9) We should always remember that for any of us the Lord was patient with us waiting while we slowly came to a place of repentance and then slowly worked through (and continue to work through) the process of sanctification which will continue to the end of our lives. He is patient with us and doesn't write us off for our slowness. In the same way, neither should we write off our brothers and sisters. In some ways this is harder inside the church than outside it. Outside it we know that people are lost sinners and therefore we expect them to get it wrong until they come to Christ, but once people have turned to Christ and have received His Spirit, we often think the changes in them should happen a lot faster! It is at such times that we need to remember this teaching on patience!

PART 3

21. Good Heartedness

1 Thess 5:15 Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.

There are people you can encounter in life who are grumpy and grouchy but even worse there are people who are vindictive who, it seems, are out to get revenge, out to get back at others for real or supposed offences. They are spiteful and unpleasant in their endeavours to pull others down. Can such people be Christians? Can people who have been instructed by their Lord to “Love one another as I have loved you,” (Jn 13:34) and to “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” (Mt 5:44) be vindictive and pay back wrong for wrong? Let's look at this more deeply.

The crucial words are paying back wrong for wrong. A wrong has been done to you. That is hard to take. Someone speaks wrong gossip about you, a false rumour is spread about you, someone uses their position of power at work against you, someone cheats against you and you lose out. All of these things are difficult to take. Even a good heart cries out, “That is unjust, that is unfair, that is wrong!” And we want that wrong to be righted but sometimes no one comes to our aid, no one steps in challenges the untruth of the gossip or rumours, no one moves against the power broker at work, no one brings down the cheat – and we feel wronged.

Have you ever been in or heard of one of those situations where someone cries out, “But it's so unfair!” and someone else responds, “Who told you that life was fair?” In this fallen world, so often life is unfair, people more powerful than us do us down, others speak behind our back to our detriment. It does even happen in church because we fail to see how terrible it is that we are contributing to lack of unity, i.e. divisiveness, and we are failing Jesus' instructions to love. We get wrapped up in the moment and lose perspective and suddenly are on the wrong side of God's instructions. Oh yes, be quite clear, these are God's instructions.

The Law was quite clear on this subject: “ Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbour as yourself. I am the LORD.” (Lev 19:18) Love is to replace a grudge. God was serious about it. Solomon understood it when he wrote his proverbs: “Do not say, "I'll pay you back for this wrong!" Wait for the LORD, and he will deliver you.” (Prov 20:22) That was at a good time of his life when he could still say, wait for the Lord and leave it up to Him.

The Law (from the understanding heart of God of course) understood that there would be circumstances where the offence was so great that there would need to be a cooling down period, and hence the institution of the cities of refuge: “For instance, a man may go into the forest with his neighbour to cut wood, and as he swings his axe to fell a tree, the head may fly off and hit his neighbour and kill him. That man may flee to one of these cities and save his life. 6 Otherwise, the avenger of blood might pursue him in a rage, overtake him if the distance is too great, and kill him even though he is not deserving of death, since he did it to his neighbour without malice aforethought.” (Deut 19:5,6) That does face us with the recognition that humanly speaking at least, it is sometimes incredibly difficult to overcome the desire to respond.

The fact is that Jesus came teaching another way: “You have heard that it was said, `Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.” (Mt 5:38-40) If someone comes against you, as one of my followers, go along with him, don't resist, give what they demand.

How can you possibly do that? Three ways:

1. Remember it is God's heart in both the Law in the Old Testament and the teaching of the New Testament.

2. God's grace is sufficient for you to help you put aside all your desires to strike back and instead respond in love.

3. Realise that striking back opens a cycle of offence – revenge – retaliation – greater revenge. That is how long term feuds arise.

Elsewhere Paul is concise: “Do not repay anyone evil for evil,” (Rom 12:17) while the apostle Peter adds a positive touch: “Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.” (1 Pet 3:9) Wow! When people insult you, bless them! Why? Because God says so and behind His instruction is the desire, coming out of His love, to do good to them. That may not be possible at this moment but in the long-term He desires to draw them to Himself so they may enter into all the good He has for them. Whether they will ever respond only He knows, but the person who insults you, speaks badly of you today and does you down, may be next years candidate for an Alpha Course and may coming knocking on your door as a new brother or sister seeking your forgiveness. Don't spoil the future. (That's the fourth way you can be motivated to do the right thing in our list above).

PART 3

22. Good Heartedness (2)

1 Thess 5:15 Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.

I realise as I look at this verse that we have only dealt with the first part of it as we considered the subject of vindictiveness and getting back at people. I suggested four ways of overcoming that sort of attitude and behaviour and the fourth one, somewhat belatedly added I took from 1 Pet 3:9 where Peter suggested instead of repaying in like kind, repaying with a blessing. Of course the second part of our verse above adopts the same approach: respond to bad with good.

Now we quoted Paul saying to the Romans, “ Do not repay anyone evil for evil,” (Rom 12:17), but actually in that same chapter twice he uses this same principle: “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse,” (Rom 12:14) and “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Rom 12:21) There is that same thing: instead of retaliating with bad, respond with good, and now in our verse above, respond with kindness.

So let's think on the second half a bit more: “always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.” A dictionary definition for ‘kind' includes, ‘sympathetic, friendly, gentle, tender hearted, generous, cordial, loving, affectionate' . In one of his ‘comparison' sets of verses Paul says, “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another.” (Eph 4:31,32) He sets kindness off against a whole raft of hostile behaviour. In his famous ‘love verses' Paul starts off, “Love is patient, love is kind .” (1 Cor 13:4) i.e. being kind to others is one expression of that love that Jesus calls to exhibit.

If we consider the word ‘kindness' we see first Paul uses it of God: “He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons.” (Acts 14:17) God's provision of the Creation is an act of His kindness. But this kindness is part of God's character, part of the way He expresses love: “In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you," says the LORD your Redeemer.” (Isa 54:8) Jeremiah brought the same sort of thing: “let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness , justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” (Jer 9:24) Now note that he didn't use the word love in respect of the threefold description of what He does.

When speaking of justice and righteousness the more appropriate word the Lord uses is ‘kindness' because although we have said it is an expression of love, it has about it an element of mercy in it, acting favourably to others who perhaps may not warrant our good will – but we give it anyway. If we look back at the two previous verses quoted we see how it is applicable there. God knew how we would turn out, using our free will to reject Him but nevertheless, in kindness, He gave us this wonderful world to bless us. In the Isaiah quote, they had sinned and His holy response was to turn from their evil, but yet with kindness He expresses compassion. It is mercy within His love.

Do you see why the instruction to ‘be kind' to those who speak ill or do ill towards you, is now appropriate? If it is love with an element of mercy within it, it is definitely us acting favourably to others who do not warrant our good will – but we give it anyway! Suddenly this instruction in the second half of this verse takes on more power. The natural response to being treated badly is to respond badly, but that is not Christ's way, it is to respond with kindness, mercy within love.

When we become aware of this we find it again and again in Scripture, for example, “do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness , tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?” (Rom 2:4) This ‘mercy within love' was there all the time in God's work of drawing us to Himself. We didn't deserve good but ‘mercy within love' brought it anyway! Suddenly we spot kindness in places we had never noticed before, for instance consider Paul speaking about their behaviour: “as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness ; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God.” (2 Cor 6:4-7) In the midst of all the other things that testify to God's love and grace through them as they ministered, there was ‘kindness'. Kindness – mercy within love – is to be a characteristic found in us Christians. It is part of God's character and therefore as he lives in us and expresses Himself through us, we will express it, for, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Gal 5:22,23)

So we are to express this ‘mercy within love' “to each other and to everyone else.” It is not to be limited just to the way we treat our brothers and sisters but, even more, to every one we meet. It is more likely to be needed with non-Christians because they are more likely to treat us unfavourably. So, ‘mercy within love' to all we meet today. We'll only be able to be like that by His grace but as He dwells within us, it is there for the taking. May it be so.

PART 3

23. Be Joyful

1 Thess 5:16-18 Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

I must confess in passing, I sometimes wonder how those who divided the Scriptures up into verses did so and particularly here why they separated off “pray continually” unless they felt that it was so important that it needed marking out on its own. Very well, we shall deal with each part alone. First of all, “Be joyful always”.

Again, while I'm in a confessing mood, I confess this reminds me of Snoopy Cartoons where I think the girl would say to the others sometimes, “Be of good cheer”, and it was almost a cynical mocking phrase. At first sight (and this just reveals my ignorance) this seems a little glib, and yet I know the apostle Paul doesn't do glib. So what does he mean? Does he mean be happy all the time? What is the background of this word ‘joyful'?

Intriguingly in the Law, speaking of the Feast of Tabernacles, the Lord says through Moses, “ Be joyful at your Feast,” (Deut 16:14) and then “For the LORD your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.” (Deut 15:15b) The first verse does seem to suggest happiness and merriment but the second verse seems to suggest that joy can come in different levels and there is a level that is deeper, more meaningful, more prolonged.

But there is something in those verses that may become clearer with some other verses: “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” (Mt 13:44) The joy or happiness came as a result of finding treasure. The joy or happiness or even merriment in the Deuteronomy verses comes as a result of feasting and the feasting comes as a result of a good harvest. Joy has a cause always. When the angel come to the shepherds after Jesus was born, he declared, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” (Lk 2:10) The joy within the good news was the arrival of the baby Jesus, the Saviour of the world.

After Jesus sent his disciples out, we read, “The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” (Lk 10:17) Their joy was because they had tasted of the kingdom of God on the earth. When Jesus returned to his disciples after his resurrection we read, “When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, "Do you have anything here to eat?” (Lk 24:40,41) Their joy was because he was still alive.

At the Last Supper there is an apparently odd connection between love and joy: “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” (Jn 15:10,11) Jesus experienced joy as he kept his Father's commands of love, and says we can have that same joy.

Now we need to pause to acknowledge that joy is greater than mere happiness. Although the two are almost the same, joy seems a form of happiness that has greater depth of origin and rises to greater height of expression. A dictionary definition of ‘joy' is ‘a very glad feeling; great pleasure; delight .' Joy bubbles out and comes from a well founded reason. When a baby is born we aren't just happy, we are full of joy. When an athlete breaks a world record, they aren't just happy, they are full of joy. When a football team scores the winning goal of a Cup Final, in the last minute, they aren't just happy, they are full of joy.

So what is our joy, our very glad feeling, our delight? It must be the realization of the wonder of our salvation. Within that must come, not only the knowledge of His saving grace that brought us to Himself, but the wonder of His Holy Presence within us and the fact that He is there for us and leading us into His perfect purposes for us. Whatever happens today, He will be there for me, working to bring good for me (Rom 8:28) and He will continue to do this until the day I die and go to be with Him for ever. If that knowledge doesn't bring me joy it means either I haven't yet appreciated the wonder of it all, or I have allowed the enemy to distract me with lies. Work on coming to an ever greater understanding of these things we've just said and when necessary (which is always) “Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil and he will flee.” (Jas 4:7)

With the Spirit within, joy is part of our inheritance: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy , peace.” (Gal 5:22) and “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy , for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (1 Pet 1:8,9). This joy is not a surface, frothy happiness, but a deep-seated inexpressible and glorious ‘ very glad feeling; great pleasure; delight,' that comes from knowing Jesus, knowing God's love for us, knowing the power and presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit within us. Prophetically the Son declared about Creation, “I was the craftsman at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind.” (Prov 8:30,31) There was the Son, full of joy as he worked alongside the Father. Remember what we saw earlier, I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” Jesus' joy comes from working alongside the Father, doing what he sees the Father doing (Jn 5:17,19), working in perfect harmony. There is the model for us.

PART 3

24. Pray Continually?

1 Thess 5:16-18 Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

The very human side of me thinks that Paul is making fun of us in this verse (I know he's not!) in the way he started out “Be joyful always,” and now “Pray continually.” It is the words ‘always' and ‘continually' which is why I've put a question mark behind the title of this meditation. Does Paul mean we should be praying every waking hour of our lives? Well we worked through the first one to a good conclusion so let's see if we can do the same here.

Now earlier in this letter Paul had said, “ Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith,” (1 Thess 3:10) which again has a continuous feel to it. In his second letter to them he writes, “With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfil every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith.” (2 Thess 1:11) However in those verses, although we could think it has this continuous feel to it, it could easily mean, “When we do pray for you we always ask that…” putting the emphasis more on the content of what they ask for being the thing they ask for whenever they do pray.

When writing to Timothy he says something interesting: “The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pr ay and to ask God for help.” (1 Tim 5:5) There is an urgency about her praying that causes her to pray, not necessarily every minute but regularly and that urgency comes out of her situation.

Very well, think about this realistically? When Paul was in the midst of his shipwreck situation (Acts 27) I suspect that his praying focused more on the current desperate situation rather than run through a list of all the churches he knew of, so although the 1 Thess 3 verse was no doubt true – at a particular point of time he kept on coming back to the Lord about the issue – at other moments other things caught his attention.

So what does “pray continually” mean? He instructed the Romans, “Be faithful in prayer,” (Rom 12:12) meaning continue to make prayer a regular part of your life. To the Ephesians he said, “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” (Eph 6:18) The emphasis there, though, is first of all on the nature of your praying – being Spirit led – and then on taking any and every situation to the Lord in prayer. To the Colossians he said, “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” ( Col 4:2) The indication there is that we need to make prayer a vital part of our lives as we watch and see enemy attacks, hostile situations or even great opportunities, as well as realizing the goodness of God to us for which we should be thankful.

That prayer was a key feature of Paul's life is obvious as we saw above (1 Thess 3:10. 2 Thess 1:11). We might also add, “I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe,” (Eph 1:16-19) and later in that same letter, “For this reason I kneel before the Father…. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power …… And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.” (Eph 3:14-18)

The overall thrust of what we have seen must be, at the very least, to ensure you make prayer a vital part of your life so that you are regularly referring matters to your Father in heaven and seeking His heart and mind on all issues in your life. Now to do this supposes two things. First, that we have this relationship with the Lord that we can take things to Him like this. Second, is that we have come to a point where we realise that without Jesus' leading, without the empowering and directing and wisdom of his Holy Spirit, we can do nothing effective, productive or fruitful: “If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (Jn 15:5) We have noted before, Jesus saying, “the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing.” (Jn 5:19) One of the things that happens when we pray, is that we become more sensitive to the Holy Spirit, more sensitive to Jesus' leading, more sensitive to the Father's will.

So, to summarise, we will pray continually, will pray regularly bringing any and every situation to the Lord, when we realise His headship and His provision, without which we can do nothing. Prayer is the cry of a man or woman who realises they are lost without Him! Prayer is the cry of a man or woman who realises they are a child of God and want to share everything in their life with their heavenly Father. Prayer is the cry of the man or woman who knows the call of God on their life and realise they need His guidance, His wisdom, His enabling and His direction. Can we not pray!

PART 3

25. Giving Thanks

1 Thess 5:16-18 Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

I have in these last two meditations (somewhat with tongue in cheek, I confess) been starting from a point of cynicism, because that is what this verse can evoke in a shallow person. The response could easily be, “Be joyful always? You must be joking! Pray continually? That's not possible! Give thanks in all circumstances? That's not real!” That's what a surface understanding of these verses could evoke, which is why we need to pause up and consider more fully each part of the verse. Thus we arrive at the third of these mini-commands.

So, yes, how is it possible to “give thanks in all circumstances,” when sometimes circumstances can be very bad. Well note, straight away, two things: first Paul doesn't say, “Give thanks for the circumstances,” and second, he doesn't say what to give thanks about while you are in those circumstances.

There was a brand of teaching going around a number of years ago (and it may still survive in some quarters) that taught “Give thanks for all circumstances,” and it was based on only a part understanding of what we will consider in the second part. Should we thank God that a loved one is being unjustly imprisoned and tortured, which will be happening somewhere in the world at the moment? Should we thank God that a homicidal maniac planned the murder of millions of Jews in the last world war? Should we give thanks for Lazarus's death and the unbelief of the Jews in John 11? I add this last one because we find Jesus' response to those things as follows: “ he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.” (Jn 11:33) and then “Jesus wept.” (Jn 11:35)

Solomon taught, “(There is) a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.” (Eccles 3:4) Indeed if you look up the word ‘weep' in a concordance you will find there are many times that the prophets speaking for God spoke of their weeping and anguish over Israel . Giving thanks for Israel being in a place of apostasy is both unfeeling and insensitive and plain unloving.

Perhaps we can resolve this more fully by considering the second thing we said: Paul doesn't say what to give thanks about while you are in those circumstances. Now when we look at the big picture, we can see that God in His loving wisdom has given mankind free will and therefore whatever takes place – including all bad things – come within His permissive will. He permits it for the sake of granting us free will which is the key thing that marks us out as human beings. Now there is a difference between God being happy that the design and plan for this world is perfect in as far as there is not an alternative way for it all to be worked out, (especially in the light of the salvation He has provided for, through His Son Jesus, on the Cross,) and saying God is happy when He looks and sees people in distress. Love anguishes over pain and distress in loved ones, and God loves His world. Emotional pain – including His own – is the price God was willing to pay to give us free will and to see the wonder of salvation being brought about in the face of sin.

But there is more to it than that. Verses like Rom 8:28 – “ we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” – show us that God is active in His world constantly working (see Jn 5:17) to bring good in us and for us. Whatever the circumstance we can thank God that a) He is sovereign Lord over all things, b) He is there for us and c) He is working for our good in the midst of whatever is happening. Those things the Scriptures are clear about.

When we are praying and seeking to give thanks, there are lots of encouraging things about Him that we can give thanks for

• that He is all wise and wants to share His wisdom with us (I will leave you to look up verses for all of these because they are there!),

• that he is all powerful and His power is available to us through His Spirit who lives with in us,

• that He is unchanging and so we can always rely upon Him,

• that He is love and so we can trust that everything He thinks, says or does in respect of us is an expression of love,

• that He is perfect and so everything He thinks, says or does in respect of us cannot be improved upon,

• that He is faithful and will always be there for us.

There is just a handful of really deep truths for which we can give thanks. It doesn't matter what the circumstances, these things are the same and they are true.

PART 3

26. God's Will for You

1 Thess 5:16-18 Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

These is still one part of this verse that we have not yet covered: “ for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.” It may look fairly obvious but we should not take it for granted. These things that Paul has been speaking about are God's will for us, the things God wants for us, the way He has designed us to be. We speak so easily of ‘God's will' but perhaps we should examine it carefully.

God's will is His particular desire, purpose, pleasure, choice, which may be expressed in respect of us as a command or decree. But what determines God's will? Why does He purpose one thing as against another? The whole thing must come back to His character, His very being. Now in previous studies we have noted two things about God: first, He is love, and second, He is perfect. This means that everything God wants, desires, purposes or decrees must be good for it comes out of love but, more than that, it is perfect and cannot be improved upon. Hence Paul spoke to the Romans about His “good, pleasing and perfect will .” (Rom 12:2)

Now in the meditation on giving thanks we spoke of God's ‘permissive' will. We said His loving wisdom has given mankind free will and therefore whatever takes place – including all bad things – come within His permissive will. He permits it for the sake of granting us free will. Now we should not think that ‘permissive' means less than perfect. Consider, would God rather we had not sinned? Would He rather Jesus didn't have to go to the Cross? Would He rather never bring judgment? I am sure the answer is yes to all those questions but because in His perfect design, for love to operate with meaning (and He is love, expressing love and wanting to generate or bring about opportunity for more love) He made us with free will and permitted those things to follow, but they were the perfect responses or outworkings of that free will and the plan of salvation is perfect, which means it cannot be improved upon. The biggest mystery starts with God Himself, the mystery of love, this benign attitude towards all else that wants the best for them. Why IS He love? We don't know, but He is and EVERYTHING else flows out of that.

Everything He thinks is an expression of love and is perfect, so when He thought of the world to be – including human beings capable of receiving and giving love, they had to be beings with free will, for love only operates within such a state. His ultimate goal is a people who will love Him but without coercion, and we do that only when we have fallen in sin, realised our terrible state, and received His forgiveness through the Cross and been united with Him by His Spirit. At the end we are redeemed beings, but beings who love Him without coercion. This is His ultimate will, He ultimate desire and everything else is subservient to that, He creates a world of beings united with Him who receive and return His love, and between whom that love flows.

So what do we have this side of eternity, here in the years we have on this earth? We have the start of that eternal life, a life linked to Him by His Spirit, a life where love starts to flow and grow, starts to overcome the Sin that previously bound us.

To understand this more fully we have to appreciate the difference between what we HAVE been made and what we ARE BEING made. One is a matter of standing and the other is a matter of outworking. For example the writer to the Hebrews said, “ by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” (Heb 10:14) To the Romans Paul said, “Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!” (Rom 5:9) In each case there is the present standing (or reality) set against the future outworking which will be completed in each case when we come face to face with Him.

The point I need to make more strongly is that although we have been established as God's forgiven children, the outworking of us learning to live as His children will now take up the rest of our lives. We are helped to apprehend that new life by realizing who we now are, but that is only part of it. We are also helped to take hold of that new life as we relate to God by His Spirit in us, and receive guidance through His word how to live. Thus all the things Paul has been seeking to convey to the Thessalonians have been part of God's design for us new beings, part of His will for us. Everything you read in the New Testament is about this – bringing you and me into the fullness of sonship. It is what He is working for and what he wants us to be working for.

Paul spoke of this: “We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labour, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.” ( Col 1:28,29) Note the order: teaching – presenting as perfect – working empowered by the Spirit. We ARE perfect in His sight and He is working to change us to become perfect in daily outworking. THIS is His will for you, to realise who you ARE and who you ARE BECOMING, to rejoice in the first and to work for the second. Hallelujah!

PART 3

27. Quenching the Spirit

1 Thess 5:19 Do not put out the Spirit's fire;

There is a temptation to link this verse with the one that follows about prophecy and although that could be of value, we'll look at that verse and then link it back in the next meditation, but for the moment we will not link forward but simply consider this short little verse as it stands.

Older versions says, “Do not quench the Spirit”, but they say the same thing. Quench does seem to give the picture better, though, of dampening down the Spirit's fire. There is an implication in this that God's Holy Spirit will be burning in us and in the local church. What does that say to us? Well when the Spirit came in fire upon the apostles on the Day of Pentecost, He came with the sound of a mighty wind and whether it was the wind or the fire, suddenly new life burst forth and they all spoke with tongues praising God in the languages of the listeners who had come there to Jerusalem from many different lands. The presence of fire reminded us that normally the fire of God burns up sin and unrighteousness, destroying what is bad or evil, but on that day He rested on the heads of each person and they were not destroyed or even burnt a little bit. It was a sign of His presence with them in His most holy form but without them being destroyed, indicating the outcome of the wonderful work of Christ on the Cross. The Cross saved them from being destroyed by the holy fire of God.

And so today we have this same Holy Spirit living within us and Paul's inference is that He will be burning within us. Now fire was also used to create heat or energy and used to be the means of energising turbines to create electricity. Today we still have coal fired power stations or atomic power stations with nuclear fuel, but the picture is still the same – the Spirit fuels our energy, He fuels the life of the Church, He burns to release creativity and new life. Now Paul also warns that we can grieve Him ( Eph 4:30) but that is more about offending His holy sensibilities by our wrong thoughts or words or even actions. This present picture is more about us stopping His work, putting Him down, hindering or even rejecting His work.

So fire is energy and energy does work to achieve an end outcome. The Holy Spirit is constantly working in and through us and around us, to achieve the end outcome of God's will that we considered in the previous meditation. If, therefore, we put out the fire of the Holy Spirit we are working against the will of God. How terrible! But what is the Spirit likely to be doing that we are likely to react against? Well, of course the most obvious things have got to be those things found in 1 Cor 12 – the gifts of the Holy Spirit – or even those things found in Eph 4 – the gifts of ministries. If we say, “Well those gifts are not for today, we deny that the Holy Spirit can bring wisdom (the knowledge of how to do something), knowledge (previously unknown information), supernatural faith (faith that stands in the face of the materialistic odds) healings, miracles, words of revelation for the future or even the ability to discern the spirit operating in a person. Each of those things are things that God uses to extend and build His kingdom but some say they are not for today. How foolish. So often, I suspect, people reject the 1 Cor 12 gifts outright because they are uncomfortable with tongues and they talk of excesses, but in so doing they write off the workings of God, they quench the Spirit and put out His works.

And then there are Eph 4 ministries. Some people are comfortable with the idea of evangelists, pastors and teachers because they can cope with that idea but apostles and prophets speak of authority in their eyes and they get scared at that thought and deny they are for today and thus deny the church the gifting of the wise and power-anointed church builder and the bringer of heavenly direction or correction, and in so doing they quench the Spirit.

Why do we do these things? Fear! And fear comes from lack of confidence in God's love. Yes, it may come from, having observed bad uses of the gifts or ministries but merely because some human beings get it wrong, that shouldn't mean we flee from the gifts for in so doing we also shy away from the Giver. How much better to seek the Lord for wise teaching how to minister graciously and in humility and put in safeguards to stop the human enthusiasm of people running amok.

But it may not be just about gifts. It may also be – and far more commonly – whenever the Holy Spirit seeks to lead us as an individual to step out in faith, whether that be to share the Good News of Jesus with another by word, or to share His love in some practical way with another. We shy away from such things because of lack of security in God's love, not being sure that we can do these things, even when he prompts, or we listen to the enemy and fear the consequences thinking either, this won't work, or what will I get myself into? In other words focusing on self (what others think of me, or what I will end up having to do) is at the heart of quenching the Spirit. We need to remember that whatever God leads us into He will also provide the enabling for, and the outcome will be good. But supposing it doesn't work, I hear you wondering. Well remember, John Wimber famously said faith is spelt R-I-S-K. All real faith is that. We hear God, or think we might be hearing Him, and then we step out; that is faith.

There will be times when we get it wrong and it wasn't God or we only part heard Him. He's not going to kick you out of the kingdom because you sought to do His will, even if you got it wrong. He knows your heart. The more you step out, the more you will get it right. I am convinced the Spirit is quenched again and again in Christian lives because of fear and because of lack of security in God's love. The Cross is there to deal with the times we got it wrong and were self-focused, but more often it is likely to be the Spirit – if we are listening – who will be there prompting us, encouraging us to step out to enlarge the kingdom of God. Learn to listen. Learn to step out. DO God's will and He will be glorified. May it be so.

PART 3

28. Care with Prophecy

1 Thess 5:20 do not treat prophecies with contempt.

The reason we said in the previous meditation that we would not look forward linking this verse with the previous one but wait and look back linking it, is that the attitude that quenches the Spirit comes first and because of the attitude, people then treat prophecies with contempt. First they say, “God doesn't move like this today,” and then they say, “(So) We don't believe in the prophetic gift.” Both are unbelief and both come out of insecurity and fear.

What does it mean to “treat prophecies with contempt” ? Well, first it means to declare that prophecies cannot happen and then, second, it is a denying of specific words. It is also, of course, challenging the person with the gift to say they are deluded. So let's consider what the New Testament says prophecy does: “ everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort.” (1 Cor 14:3) Strengthening, encouragement and comfort? One cannot complain about those things surely? Aren't each of those three things good, things for building up the body? Remember what we said in the previous meditation, that people who quench the Spirit write off all the gifts of the Spirit seen in 1 Cor 12 as things no longer needed since the completion of the Scriptural canon, so any words of revelation are denied, including words or wisdom or words of knowledge.

Let's take an extreme case for those of us living in the West, but not so extreme if you are a Christian in some other parts of the world. Suppose persecution hits even harder and some of your family are thrown into prison. At this point the evangelical Spirit-quenchers try to bring words of encouragement through words of Scripture. “Oh, the apostle Paul warns that anyone who wants to live a godly life will be persecuted (2 Tim 3:12)” Well as true as that is that doesn't do much to strengthen, encourage or comfort. When such people then scratch around and try and apply various scriptures, they are in fact saying, “God says these things to you,” which may not be as dynamic but they are in effect claiming divine mandate in exactly the same way as someone exercising the gift of prophecy does.

But supposing someone brings you a word that says, “Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days.” Now that does bring strengthening because a) it claims to come from God who is on your case and b) He warns about something coming, indicating He knows all about it and c) it will not last long. Now of course you know I have taken the verse of Rev 2:10 to illustrate this but if this was a ‘now word' for you who were living in a land of persecution that WOULD be strengthening, encouraging and comforting. The fact that it is a ‘now word', a word that applies right now to this unique situation, brings strength, encouragement and comfort in a special way.

The fundamental question we have to ask such people is, “Do you deny that the God who communicates with people right the way throughout the Bible, no longer communicates? Does the presence of a written testimony and teaching (the Bible) mean that God's character and personality have changed so that He no longer wishes to speak directly to people? When you stop to think about it seriously, you are actually challenging the very Being of God Himself. Imagine a father whose child has grown up saying, “I no longer speak to him/her any longer because I taught them everything they need to know throughout their childhood.” How silly is that! You deny the very essence of fatherhood which is to communicate with your children – as long as you and they are alive! God is no different! He is our Father and He still loves to speak to His children!

May I give some examples. Over the years I have had the privilege of being permitted to bring the following words. I have been warned by God of a leader's impending death, so it wouldn't come as a shock to me and that I could warn his son to put right his faulty relationship with his father before it was too late.(He died within three months). I have told a couple who had been told they would remain childless that they would have a child within a year. (They did). I told a middle aged lady who had given up any hope of ever getting married that she would be married within eighteen months. (She was.) Now please understand, I intensely dislike bringing such words as these last two, because if I am wrong I am playing with people's deepest feelings and bringing unfounded hope which only brings further hurt if not fulfilled. When you understand the pastoral dynamics of such things, you never bring words casually.

I give these examples simply to illustrate the concept of bringing strength, encouragement and comfort through the prophetic word. The prophetic word releases faith in people that is specific in such a way that it goes even beyond preaching, which I hold in the utmost respect for releasing faith. Yes, faith is risky, yes people can get it wrong, and yes churches may not handle it well, but that is true of all aspects of Christian life. People do take words of scripture out of context and wrongly apply them to their lives to justify wrong attitudes (the slavery movement accepted by Christians was the classic example of this), but merely because some get it wrong should not mean we quench the Holy Spirit. Prophecy releases vision, confirms calling and gifting and sets people up to serve God in ways that nothing else does. When God speaks a word to me about me, that is revelation. When He speaks information about the state of another person that is knowledge. When He speaks a word about their state and then brings understanding, purpose and direction about them to be conveyed to them to strengthen, encourage and comfort them, that is prophecy, and we are foolish if we treat such words with contempt!

PART 3

29. Test Everything

1 Thess 5:21,22 Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.

The temptation here is to take all three instructions and treat them as one. I have the feeling that if we do that we will miss much, so let's simply start with “Test everything” and see where we go. That this follows a concern about prophecies must suggest initially that it may apply specifically to prophecies. Testing prophecies is indeed a subject that arises in the New Testament: “ Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said.” (1 Cor 14:29) and “The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets.” (1 Cor 14:32) Whatever else these verses say, they say that prophecies should be checked or weighed. We may also add that any ‘word' that brings teaching that is contrary to the teaching of the Bible is false.

The danger that comes for those who might be in that band that we considered earlier as quenching the Spirit by denying He works in such ways today and then by treating prophecies with contempt, is that ‘testing' becomes a tool for unbelief. Testing is a subject that comes up a number of times in the Bible and by this we do not mean the testing that is equated with trials, testing that God brings to strengthen us.

No, testing is referred to in the Old Testament a number of times as an attitude and behaviour that expressed unbelief in respect of the Lord. The Psalmist refers back to Israel 's behaviour in the wilderness: “They wilfully put God to the test by demanding the food they craved. They spoke against God, saying, "Can God spread a table in the desert?” (Psa 78:18,19). The apostle Paul echoed this: “We should not test the Lord, as some of them did--and were killed by snakes. And do not grumble, as some of them did--and were killed by the destroying angel.” (1 Cor 10:9,10) The ‘testing' referred to there is clearly an expression of unbelief.

We must distinguish between testing that is unbelief and times when the Lord challenged His people to ‘test' or prove Him in some manner, for example, “Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, "Ask the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights." But Ahaz said, "I will not ask; I will not put the LORD to the test .” (Isa 7:10-12) There the Lord invited Ahaz to ask for a sign (?like Gideon?) but Ahaz was not secure enough in God to respond. Through Malachi we see the Lord saying test or prove me: “ Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.” (Mal 3:10) Those sorts of test were actually positive, stepping out in faith at God's instigation and finding He was faithful to His word. That is a different slant on the word meaning ‘prove by confirmation of faith.'

In the New Testament we find various other injunctions to test things, for example, “ Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves,” (2 Cor 13:5) i.e. check out the reality of your faith. Then there is, “If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions,” (Gal 6:3,4) i.e. check the reality of who you are and where you are in the Faith and realise that all you are is from God. The similar call, “A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup,” (1 Cor 11:28) is to check yourself out before God and ensure you are holding right attitudes and behaviour.

The call to “test everything” goes beyond prophecy. It is a call to be aware of what is right and what is wrong, what is true and what is false. One of the condemnations of the Old Testament was that the people had been blurring truth and reality, blurring right and wrong and it is what we find in today's relativistic ethics: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” (Isa 5:20)

There is also the testing of people. We should not take people at face value: “The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (1 Sam 16:7) This is why there is the gift of “distinguishing between spirits,” (1 Cor 12:10) which reveals the origin of what comes from a person – from God, from purely human selfish thinking, or from the enemy. The apostle John said, “The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” (1 Jn 2:4) This was a whole area that concerned John, false ‘believers', those who said one thing but did another: “Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness.” (1 Jn 2:9) Indeed he kept on coming back to it: “Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning,” (1 Jn 3:7,8) and, “This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.” (1 Jn 3:10)

Finally John hits this subject firmly on the head: “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.” (1 Jn 4:1-3) THIS is why we have to “test everything”. It is because we are in a spiritual battle and the enemy uses lies and deception to seek to lead God's people astray. May we not be so lead!

PART 3

30. Hold the Good

1 Thess 5:21,22 Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.

I have a horrible feeling we take good for granted and don't realise that it is something precious and to be held on to. When you talk about holding on to something there is a sense of clinging on to it to make sure you don't drop or lose it.

Consider things that are ‘good': love, peace, quietness, security, safety, warm relationships, stable relationships, honouring and respecting people, absence of upset and hurt, honesty and integrity, freedom from crime, freedom from violence, being able to look back and be thankful, being able to look into the future with confidence. Look at so much of modern life in the West and realise the absence of so many of these things. When we were a child our parents kept us free from worry and so many of the above list were true for us, but in so many modern single-parent homes (and two-parent homes) these things are so often absent.

Before Christ, before we received our salvation, the apostle Paul quoted from the Old Testament, “ All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good , not even one.” (Rom 3:12) In other words, outside of Christ we have little expectation of finding good, real selfless, godly good, being expressed. Indeed Paul was to go on and declare in a more personal way, “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature .” (Rom 7:18) Later on in the practical section of that same book he gave the same instruction that we find here: “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good,” (Rom 12:9) and in the closing chapter, “I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.” (Rom 16:19) Paul's understanding sharply contrasts with today's relativistic ramblings where few are able to say, yes there is good and yes there is evil and we know the difference.

But good for the Christian is not just an idea, it is a practical reality. Again Paul was to say to the Galatians, “Let us not become weary in doing good , for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” (Gal 6:9,10) Some versions in verse 9 have ‘well-doing' for the NIV's ‘doing good' which is another nice way of putting it. The verse 10 reference is clearly to good deeds. In Ephesians he reminds us that, “we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,” (Eph 2:10) and of the Colossians he said, “And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work.” ( Col 1:10) Similarly there is Jesus' teaching, “let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Mt 5:16)

Again and again the emphasis is not merely on working but doing good in what you do. Goodness is seen, goodness reveals who we are. When speaking about the widows to be cared for by the church under Timothy's oversight, Paul described the qualifications of those to be looked after as, “well known for her good deeds, such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the saints, helping those in trouble and devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds .” (1 Tim 5:10) There are some very practical ways of doing good. When speaking to Titus about the qualities of overseers (elders) he said, “he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good , who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.” (Titus 1:8). Indeed eight times in that letter Paul refers to ‘doing good'.

Indeed we see there the real heart of this call: “Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.” (Titus 2:13,14) Jesus came to deliver us out of a life of self-centred and godless evil into being those whose life is characterized by doing good, by being good, by being eager to do good. Paul is very specific about it: “I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good .” (Titus 3:8)

The writer to the Hebrew understood this as well when he wrote about us maturing and receiving good teaching: “But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” (Heb 5:14) That is what teaching should do, help us understand the difference between good and evil. Echoing Paul's teaching about good deeds following, James taught, “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life , by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.” (Jas 3:13) Peter also echoes that earlier teaching about good deeds being seen: “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” (1 Pet 2:12)

Later on Peter quotes psalm 34 to emphasis this same thing: “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good ; he must seek peace and pursue it.” (1 Pet 3:10,11) The apostle John echoes so much of this in his third letter: “Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God.” (3 Jn 11). Remember also, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness , faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Gal 5:22,23(+). Goodness comes from God and is to be seen in His people. Good is not only a concept but it is also a practice and it is a vital one that needs restoring to the church in the twenty-first century so that the world may see and believe and be blessed, but it needs working at. May it be so!

PART 3