1Thessalonians: The Study of a Text: Assembly Atmosphere

First of all, I think I speak for my fellow laborer, brother who's with us, when I tell you we want to extend to the Assembly our sincere appreciation for the invitation to be with you, and I think I speak for all the visitors when I say we appreciate the hospitality, the meals, all that has been, all that has characterized the weekend from the Assembly here and their labor, very, very sincerely appreciate it. Now, I'll tell you my goal before we even start, so you know where I'm going. My goal for this meeting is I don't take away from the last meeting.

I would have preferred the meeting ended, the conference ended, with the solemn and searching message we heard, and the fear is taking away from what you have heard and lessening its impact on all of our consciences. But schedules must be kept, and so I'm going to ask you to turn to 1 Thessalonians and chapter number 5, 1 Thessalonians and chapter number 5, and we will commence reading together at verse number 16, 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse number 16. Rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

Quench not the spirit, despise not prophesying, prove all things, hold fast that which is good, abstain from all appearance or every form, every type of evil, and himself, and the very God of peace sanctify you wholly, I would take it that's the entire assembly, sanctify you wholly, all of you, and I pray God your entire, your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you who also will do it. Brethren, pray for us.

Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss. I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Amen. So as we close this study of 1 Thessalonians, very appropriate we come to the end of the epistle and look together at this final section of the word of God. Just a few background things about the section we're looking at.

I think it's vital to see the scene that is being brought before us because when we look at rejoicing, praying, giving thanks, quenching not the spirit, despising not prophesying, we're looking at an assembly and its gathering. I don't think this is, I know that all of this has to be applied personally, but this is not so much in your individual private life. This has to do with the assembly gathering together and the attitude I bring to an assembly gathering.

So the scene here is the assembly. The scope of responsibility that is brought before us here is, first of all, my own attitude and then as we will see, my attitude to others and to the truth of God. So we'll notice that as we go through the passage together.

It is again, as our brother has reminded us at the beginning of chapter 4, the subject is that of sanctification. He ends his section here in verse number 23 with a prayer and it's interesting, we didn't have time to trace it. You can trace the prayers of the apostle in this epistle.

He ends it with a prayer that their entire spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless. He's praying here that God would sanctify the entire assembly, set them apart in blameless character, in holiness before him, and he mentions spirit, soul, and body. Now linked with all of that, there is these truths.

How does God sanctify us? And I think we will see in this section three things that God uses to produce holiness in our lives. First of all, he will use the trials of life. We'll mention that as we look at this section.

He will use the truth of God, as we have in this section, and he will use the treatment of other believers, as we will see in this section. So we are sanctified by the trials of life, by the truth of God, and by our interaction, how we treat one another as believers, and we'll look at that. This also will serve as a summation, really, of a section.

If you were perceptive, you would have noticed that at the beginning of chapter four, he says this is the will of God. How does he end chapter five? This is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. So it's what theologians call an inclusio.

In other words, he uses the same expression to bracket together truth he wants to emphasize and truth he wants to underline for us. And so as you think of spirit, soul, body, you go back to the beginning of chapter four and it's all about the body. You come to the end of chapter four, the beginning of chapter five, it's all about the soul and the sorrows and being comforted.

And you come to the section we are in, it's all about the spirit that I bring into an assembly. So it's really a summation of all that we have been looking at from chapter four, the beginning, down to the end of chapter number five. As far as the structure of the chapter, if we were looking at the entire chapter together, I would suggest to you that in the first 11 verses, there's an anticipation.

He's anticipating the fact that we will be saved from wrath through him and we will live forever with him. So there's an anticipation that is meant to comfort us in all of the issues of life. When it comes to verses 12 to 15, while specifically addressed, I would think, to leadership in the assembly, there is an awareness that challenges us.

Be aware there are believers with needs. There are some believers who are discouraged, some who are weak, some who are small of soul, and you'll need to be aware that these believers need to be helped. So an awareness to challenge all of us in leadership.

And the section before us, I would suggest to you from verse 16 down to the end, there is an atmosphere that we ought to cultivate in God's assembly. Every assembly has an atmosphere, doesn't it? You all know what I mean. There's a talk about business culture, that every business, every large corporation has a corporate culture, just a way that things are done, and a feeling that occurs when you join that company.

Every assembly has an atmosphere, and we all are part of making up the assembly atmosphere by the very attitude we bring into the assembly. So I'm going to suggest verses 16 to 18, especially, an attitude to cultivate in God's assembly. In verses 19 to 22, an acknowledgment to regulate in God's assembly, and in verses 23 to 28, an appreciation to motivate us in God's assembly.

Coming at it in a different way, maybe an easier way to remember. In verses 16 to 18, it is the will of God for us. What is God's will? Here it is.

The will of God for us. Verses 19 to 22, it's the word of God to us. And the chapter ends.

The rest of those verses, 23 to 28, it is the work of God in us. So the will of God for us, the word of God to us, and the work of God in us in these final verses that we will look at together. Sorting out verses 16 to 18, everybody knows, rejoice evermore, again, two words, the second smallest verse in our Bible, letter-wise and length-wise, but rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing and everything give thanks.

Here is an attitude I should cultivate for God's assembly. Number one, praise. Number two, prayer.

Number three, perception. Praise will avoid a spirit of self-pity. Prayer will avoid a spirit of self-reliance.

And perception will avoid a spirit of self-centeredness. So let me just go over those quickly. The time is very brief.

Praise will avoid self-pity. Rejoice evermore. Remember, he's writing.

He's writing to believers who are being persecuted. These are not just people who have the flu or someone who's worried his job is going to be terminated. He's writing to people whose very lives are on the line and livelihoods are on the line.

We fail to remember that in the culture in which this was written and the Greek gods and the guilds, that if you did not worship the god of the guild, the idol of the guild, you were out of work and you were ostracized and life was on the line. And he's telling these people, amidst everything, never develop a spirit of self-pity. He says, remember, maintain a spirit of praise and thanksgiving throughout your life.

I hope that everybody here over the age of 65 is praying that you will not end life as a grumbly, complaining, old Christian, okay? You know who they are, right? They're preachers. I mean, today, they're nothing like before. I mean, we used to have good preachers, you know? And the gospel meetings, I mean, I think of the days when we would have gospel meetings and 20, 30 people would get saved.

Today, I mean, the blindness of nostalgia. Some of those good old days, let me tell you, were not so good, okay? And if you need some proof of that, talk to me afterwards. They weren't all that good.

So forget the blindness of nostalgia. Avoid self-pity. Avoid feeling like, you know, everything is going down, everything is getting bad, and complaining and grumbling.

Be a Christian who's marked by a thankful spirit. Rejoice evermore. Then he says, I want you to avoid self-reliance.

He says, I want you to be marked by a spirit of prayer. He says, pray without ceasing. Now, this is the assembly in its character together, and I don't think it means we should have 24-hour-a-day prayer meetings.

I think it just means that the assembly should be marked by a constant spirit of dependence upon God for all of its activities. It is a tragic and solemn reminder that you can have the best of preachers, the biggest of audiences, the best of exposition, and nothing at all occur for God. We are constantly reminded that anything that is accomplished for God is a result of His gracious dealings and the Spirit of God's working in our midst.

And he wants us to maintain this spirit of dependence upon Him in all that we do. Prayer as an attitude of my heart, prayer as an expression of dependence. Have you ever thought of prayer, really, as an expression of worship? Prayer, actually, because it's acknowledging, really, that there is no other source of help in the universe but the God of heaven.

It acknowledges Him in His sovereignty, in His goodness, in His mercy, in His kindness. It is calling upon Him because He is the ultimate source of everything. So as we come in prayer, I know we can just ask and never give thanks, but even asking in itself should be an expression of worship as we appreciate the greatness of the God to whom we come.

And He is the ultimate source of all of our blessings. And we are totally, totally dependent upon Him. And so He says here, I want you, first of all, to be a thankful people.

I want you to be a dependent people. And He says, I want you to be a people who can, in every set of circumstances, give thanks. Now, He doesn't say for everything give thanks.

He says, in every set of circumstances, give thanks. He says, I want you to appreciate, to perceive that in all of the difficulties of life, in all of the trials of life, to recognize there is someone bigger than I, and there is someone wiser than I, someone who is controlling things. And circumstances may not seem congenial, but in all of this, God is working His purposes.

Let me just give you a personal example, if I can, for a moment. All of you who are in business or who work for corporations that give you pension plans will identify with what I'm saying. You know, back in 2007, 2008, I'm looking forward to retirement in a few years.

And I'm watching as the company pension plan is going this way. Okay? We all hit the big recession, and everybody's pension plans started to go down. And my little self-centered heart starts thinking, I want to retire.

And what I'm depending on is suddenly taking wings and flying away, as Solomon said. And doesn't God realize that I'm looking forward to retirement, and I want to use that time for Him, and I'm thinking all this. And in the midst of all that, you know what comes to my mind? God used famines and depression, away in the land of Italy, to take a grandfather who was steeped in another religion, in its darkness.

And the depression and the famine brought him to the shores of America, where he heard the gospel and got saved. And brought another set of grandparents from the land of the Republic of Ireland, County Sligo, to the shores of America. And while they never got saved, my father got saved.

And I suddenly realized God used economic downturns to take people from other continents that were steeped in religious darkness, bring them to the land of America, where they heard the gospel. And as a result of that, I'm saved. I almost felt like saying, thank God for depressions.

Okay? You know what I'm saying? And here I am thinking, poor me. Poor me. Thank God.

Thank God for the circumstance. We tend to think of everything just in terms of just my little life, my little corner, my little family. Get a big picture of what God is doing in our world.

Recognize that all of the overturning of things and all of the economic chaos and all of the problems the world is facing all have behind it the sovereign hand of a God who is working everything according to the counsel of his own will. And as Paul says somewhere else, who needs to give, who needs to give, who can give God's counsel? Who can tell God how to run his universe? He says, I want you in every set of circumstances. Don't become sour.

Don't become self-centered. Don't think everything is all about you and life. God is working great purposes in our world.

Everything with a view ultimately to this one ultimate purpose, to give his son the highest place in the universe. Remarkable, isn't it? That whenever you read about purpose, it's always singular. God really has only one purpose.

I know there are a lot of subsidiary purposes, but whenever you read about God's purpose, it's always singular because God really has only one thing in mind, the glory of his son. And everything is moving towards that. And while there may be some very unpleasant circumstances, if the Lord doesn't come, that we in North America will have to face, always remember God is working everything for this one great ultimate purpose, the glory of his son.

So he says, I want you to bring this attitude, to cultivate this attitude and bring it into God's assembly. I want you to be marked by a spirit of praise, a spirit of prayer and a spirit of perception because he says that is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Now, undoubtedly, there are young believers here and you are struggling with the will of God for your life.

And you're perspiring and you're inspiring and you're expiring and wondering, what is God's will for my life? Do you know that 95% of the will of God for your life is right here in this book in black and white? Couldn't be less clear. And here's part of it. So instead of worrying about whether you should be a missionary in Africa or South America, just begin to cultivate these.

That I should have a spirit that is marked by praise and a spirit of prayer that marks me when I bring, I should bring that attitude into God's assembly and seek to be a positive influence and a positive source of blessing. But then he says, not only the will of God for you, but what about the word of God to you? Now, this may take a tad bit of explaining, so just bear with me. When Paul wrote this letter to Thessalonica, there's some difference of opinion whether this is the first epistle ever written.

Some would say Galatians, some would say 1 Thessalonians, but at the very most, even if you are a believer that Galatians is earlier, they had only one epistle, Galatians. There may have been one gospel, possibly two. Matthew's gospel likely was in circulation, but the other 25 books of our Bible, of our New Testament, they did not have.

So, a question would come up about practices, about the pathway, about what they ought to do, and a man would stand up in the audience in the assembly and say, here is what God says. He would be telling out the mind of God. He would be prophesying.

So, when Paul says, despise not prophesying, as he says in verse number 20, what he's referring to is this, that a man would rise in the assembly and instead of having 1 Corinthians 10, 1 Corinthians 15, he would say, here is God's word for this moment, for this need. So, it is in a sense the word of God spoken through the mouths of men. And so, he says, when it comes to the word of God in God's assembly, number one, he says, don't quench the spirit.

Number two, don't despise prophesying. Number three, prove everything, put everything to the test. He says, hold fast what is good.

And he says, as well, just abstain, just avoid every form of evil. So now, this is the word of God to the assembly and my attitude, my acknowledgment of the word of God. One thing that should set an assembly apart, if we genuinely gather to the Lord's name, that it is the authority of this book that regulates everything.

I spoke to someone and they tried to get around 1 Corinthians 11 and the place of sisters in the assembly and the head covering by saying, that is the only place in the Bible that speaks of head coverings. Just one place in the Bible that speaks of head coverings. And you mean to tell me that it's absolutely incumbent then that a sister's head be covered.

Now, I know that we can take verses out of their context. We can twist them. We can turn them.

We can make them say what we want to say. But if there is something clear, contextually understood, unmistakable in its understanding, one verse from God is all that's needed. Put another way, how many times does God have to say something to be true? One statement from God should be enough, much less a half a chapter.

Listen again to the Lord Jesus. He's being tempted by Satan in the wilderness. This is Matthew's account.

Man shall not live by bread alone but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. There is no word from God that is superfluous, that is optional, that is negotiable. Every word of God, again, understood in its setting, understood contextually, settles everything for us as believers.

So here he brings them then to the word of God. So let me just apply some of these things. I realize we don't have men standing prophesying, but we do have men standing in teaching, men standing in exhorting, men standing in edifying, and men standing in comforting the saints.

So the first thing he says is don't quench the spirit. Very simply, just don't put out anybody's fire. Don't go around saying, you know, you're only 45.

You haven't spent long enough on the road to get up and minister in God's assembly. Now I know we recognize gift and oversight is responsible for making sure that what is said is profitable. But there is a danger at times, and he says here, don't just automatically put out anybody's fire and say the spirit of God could never use you.

So he says quench not the spirit. Now we have grieving the spirit relative to our conversation in Ephesians, and I would take it quenching the spirit is collectively just discounting somebody as being someone the spirit of God could not use. But then he says despise not prophesying.

It's not only avoid indifferent listening, but avoid critical listening. Now in one sense we do have to listen critically, but there's also a critical sense of listening where you're just looking for something wrong. Listening for what you can find to find fault with.

Listening so that you can say, well, I know something about him and his family. I know something about what he does. I know something about what his wife does.

Now the man that stands up here is responsible that his life be absolutely consistent with what he is saying. That's my responsibility. Your responsibility is to take whatever I say is from God.

A good man saying a bad thing does not make it right. And a bad man saying a good thing doesn't make it wrong. Truth stands on its own.

So you can never sit back and say, I know what that person is like in his own life. He'll have to answer to God for that. You will have to answer for how you respond to the word of God.

Word of God stands on its own authority. So he says avoid critical listening. Don't just look to find fault with the speaker, with the subject, with the man's family.

He says despise not. Don't look down on what he's saying. The word of God is our ultimate.

It is our only source of guidance and help in assembly life. But then he says as well, he says avoid gullible listening. He says put everything to the test.

Prove everything. So that what you hear this weekend from these two brethren who have stood up here, you are responsible to prove whether it's so. That means to take it and to compare it to the rest of the word of God in the context of what we're looking at.

A man would rise to give a prophetic utterance from God and as the assembly listened, they would be responsible to see is that consistent with the rest of the word of God? Does the rest of the word of God support what that man is saying? So we have to put everything to the test. Prove all things. So he says I want you to just avoid being gullible.

Just don't swallow everything you hear. One of our brethren, our brother was speaking yesterday about the tremendous danger of all the information available from the internet. All of the sermonizing and all of the messages that you can go hither and yon throughout the country and every denomination, every individual, they'll have something on the internet for you to listen to.

And it all sounds so charming at first. A little bit of truth. And then suddenly the error is brought in alongside and you just begin to swallow it because it sounds so good.

Prove everything by the full entire word of God. But he says when you have put it to the test, he says I want you to hold fast what's good. Now I don't like to be critical.

I hope I'm not being critical when I say this. We are in danger of becoming sermon samplers or sermon raiders. I might want to take away from what our brother Farris said earlier about this morning's message being a 10.

But maybe you'll leave the conference saying Rogers was a 10. And Sona and our brother Segil were 9. Higgins was a 5. And so you just go away with all the ratings in your mind. That's not what a conference is for.

That's not why the word of God is being opened. This is not spiritual entertainment. This is the word of God.

He says I want you to put into your life. I want you to make this part of your life what you have heard. And so he says yes, put everything to the test.

Avoid being a gullible listener. But he says I don't want you to just be a sermon sampler either. Just picking and choosing and deciding and putting a number score next to this.

This conference was good because of this message and that conference was nice because of that message and the food at this conference was really good. He says I want you to put into your life what you have heard. So let's just turn the tables for a moment and put it back on you.

What are you going to take from this conference? What are you going to take home to put into practice Monday morning? Because you know it's nice being a Christian on Sunday. Nice being a Christian at a conference. Everybody's warm and fuzzy.

And everyone's nice to you. Not going to be that way Monday morning at work. Monday morning at school.

Monday morning at the university. What are you going to take from the conference to live out Monday morning? He says I want you to hold fast what's good. And he says I want you to avoid every form of evil.

And so he brings them to that. Abstain from every form. We are Christians prone to extremes, aren't we? Gullible listening or critical fault finding? He says I want you to be a balanced believer.

I want you to be able to discern what is chaff and I want you to be able to hold on to what is wheat. And I want you to live in the good of it. So the Word of God.

This is vital for assembly preservation. That the Word of God have its place among the people of God. And that we acknowledge that here's an acknowledgement that should regulate us in all that we do.

Not just the will of God for us but the Word of God to us. But then he speaks about the work of God in us. And he speaks in verse 23 to the end The very God of peace sanctify you wholly your whole spirit, soul, body be preserved blameless unto the coming of the Lord Jesus.

Faithful is he that calleth you. Brethren pray for us. Brethren with a holy kiss and so on.

Now if our brother Rogers had not dealt with this I would deal with it more. I'll just mention it and pass on. Number one, he says I want you to be passionate about sanctity.

Passionate about sanctity. Sounds almost like an inherent contradiction of terms doesn't it? To have passion to be sanctified. To be passionate to be holy.

I want you to be that way. Now I'm just going to leave that because that was dealt with so ably this morning. But then he says I want you to be prayerful for the servants of God.

Prayerful for the servants of God. He says brethren pray for us. Nice that the only assembly I think that Paul never asked to pray for him were assemblies were the assemblies in Galatia and also the assembly at Philippi.

He knew Philippi was praying for him because of their interest. He doesn't have to tell Philippi. He won't tell Galatia.

He here speaks to the believers in Thessalonica. Brethren pray for us. Now you'll forgive me for a minute.

I'm going to soapbox because it is a burden. It is a concern. Are you praying? Are you praying for God to raise up servants for North America? Just think with me for a moment of the age of most of the men who are moving amongst us today.

We have several men over the age of 90. We have quite a number of men over the age of 80. And if you drop it down to 65 we have the majority of men who are moving amongst us serving in the gospel over the age of 65.

What's going to happen when they're all gone? Are you praying for God to raise up younger men to go forth with the gospel? The age of our workers. Think of the area of this country. New York City only 100 miles from where I live.

Over 10 million people. 10 million people. And there is one worker working amongst the Korean people in a city of 10 million people.

Now I want to be careful. We are not the only people preaching the gospel. We are not the only groups.

I am not in any way suggesting we are it. Far be it. Thank God for others.

Every man who preaches the gospel. But as far as among assemblies that we move. As far as new areas of work.

One man. In Korean. 10 million people.

The state of California. 39 million people in the state of California. How many workers do you know in California? 39 million people.

It's more than, I just was asking our brother Bruce here, it's more than the population of Canada. One state with more people in it than all of Canada. And there are entire states in this country with absolutely no work being done.

Now you may well point the finger back at me and say well what about you? Where have you been all your life? And you may be right. I may have missed it. I have to confess.

So maybe if I have missed it I'd like to stir up younger men. To think about the work of God. And middle aged and older Christians to start praying.

Fervently. If we are going to see the gospel move forward in our generation. If we are going to see assemblies not only preserved but new assemblies planted.

It is going to take a mighty movement of God to raise up young couples to go out with the gospel. And if you want, if you need space I think you could ask our brother Christofferson there are entire states that no one is working. There's room for everyone.

I know one of our great problems, student loans. Student loans bog young couples down. Debt they can't get out from.

Takes years to pay it off. It's a tremendous There are so many circumstances that are against the gospel in our country or against young men and women being raised up to go out with the word of God. So difficult.

So we need to pray. Those of us who are older need to pray. Because of the age of the workers.

Because of areas that lay barren. And I would hope that from this conference there's some young men and women who would begin praying. Lord if it's your will.

Only if it's your will. Don't go out if it's not God's will. You'd just be a burden to God's people.

But do pray if it's God's will that he'll raise up some. Thrust you out. Whether locally or further afield.

To spread the gospel. So Paul says I want you to be prayerful for the servants of God. He says I want you to be passionate about holiness.

He says I want you to be praying for the servants of God. And he says I want you to be showing love for all the saints. He says there greet all the brethren with a with a holy kiss.

I want genuine unhypocritical, unfeigned love of brethren. I want you to display that amongst yourselves. If we had time I would love to be able to speak more about relationships among believers and love among believers.

Let me just quickly highlight four things. Number one begin focusing on the beauty in other believers. Don't look for the defects.

I have to confess tragically I grew up in an atmosphere as a very young person where spirituality was linked with how many faults you could find in other people. You know you were spiritually discerning because you could see how the hidden motives that nobody else could see. God forbid.

Focus on the beauty. Look for Christ in other believers. And if you can't find him there's something wrong with your eyesight.

If there's nothing of Christ in another believer there's either something dreadfully wrong with them or dreadfully wrong with you. And start with thinking maybe it's in you. So focus on the beauty of other believers.

Foster what is the blessing for other believers. Our brothers have mentioned that already. Genuine love is not getting warm fuzzies when I see you.

I don't. Sorry. Don't take it personally.

I don't get warm fuzzies. But loving another believer is always seeking what is best for you. That's why loving your brother will never lead to defrauding your brother.

Loving another always seeks what is the best for another. So foster the blessing of others. Thirdly forbear the blemishes of others.

This is how God develops holiness in our lives. Because it takes a lot of grace on your part to put up with me. Right? So there's the aggressive, there's the outspoken, there's the awkward, and you know, where are you going to develop patience and kindness and goodness and long suffering? It's putting up with each other.

You say, is that part of holiness? Yes. Our brother has mentioned already. Holiness is really the character of God developed in his believers.

How does God treat you? How does God treat me? Does God get kind of frustrated with us because we're so awkward? Or because we talk too much or don't talk enough? God is so long suffering with us. And so as we bear with each other's blemishes we develop Christ-like character. We develop holiness of life.

So focusing on the beauty of others. Fostering the blessing of others. Forbearing with the blemishes in others.

And the hardest thing, forgiving the bruises others give. And if you haven't yet been bruised, then it's very likely you're doing the bruising. We all get bruised in this Christian life.

Learning to forgive the bruises as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven you. And so he says, I want you to be passionate about holiness. I want you to be praying for the servants of God.

He says, I want you to be displaying love for the saints. And he says, make sure this scripture is read. I want you to hold dear.

Hold dear the word of God. Make sure it has the primary place in the gatherings of the saints. He says, I charge you by the Lord this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren.

He says, what I have written to you is so vital that the word of God must have its place among the people of God if we are going to be preserved. May God bless his word and use this weekend as a stimulus to study the word of God, to pray for the work of God, and to be willing to live in the will of God.