Relationships with God
To produce a mature a church,
we must help believers
engage in proper worship.
Here's Gene:
In the last Principle we looked at here
in 1st Thessalonians, we focused on
a Principle that related to
our relationship with one another.
But now Paul turns to this
very, very important concept--
our relationship with God.
Which I have emphasized
as being proper worship.
And we have a series of statements here
that relate to our relationship with God.
They're closely related to
our relationships with one another.
But in a very specific way they relate to
our relationship with God.
So here's the first one.
He says, be joyful.
And the statement that Paul uses is:
Rejoice always...
Now what does that mean?
Well let me give you a paragraph
from James that really is
an elaboration on what Paul's
very succinct statement here means.
James wrote:
Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters,
whenever you experience various trials,
because you know that the testing
of your faith produces endurance.
Now James was not saying that we
should be jumping up and down
with enthusiasm and clapping our hands
and thanking God for the fact that
we are experiencing trials.
What he is simply saying:
That God is able to give us
an incredible sense of peace and joy
at a deeper level of our souls
regardless of what is happening to us.
And as I was thinking about that
I reflected on Paul and Silas
when they were in prison in Philippi.
And you remember what happened.
They were beaten and put in the
inner stocks of the prison and chained.
And at midnight they were singing
psalms of praise to God.
Now I can't identify with that.
In fact in many respects, I cannot identify
even with what James says here:
To consider it great joy
when you experience various trials.
Not the kind of trials that
these believers were facing.
But by faith, I'm thankful for
the experiences I can read about in Scripture.
Or the stories that I can hear
about Christians today. That in the midst of trials
and difficulties they are able to
experience that sense of peace and joy
that's at a much deeper level
than the superficial joy
that we talk about in our lives.
And that's a wonderful truth that
God has promised to those who trust him.
Even in the midst of persecution.
And then there's another emphasis.
It's prayer. Regular prayer.
And again, it's a very succinct statement
to the Thessalonians:
...pray constantly...
And there, what he's referring to is that prayer
should be a regular part of our life.
We have an example of that right in the
first church in Jerusalem,
where we read in Acts 2:42:
They [that is these new believers]
devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching,
to the fellowship,
[and] to the breaking of bread,
and to prayer.
Prayer was a whole new experience, by the way,
for these Jewish believers.
Prayer was something that priests
did for you in the Jewish community.
And so for the first time they're understanding
that they can pray for one another.
They can walk into the very presence
of God for each other.
Because the wall, or the middle wall
has been broken down.
But the great curtain in the temple
has been split in two.
Enabling us literally to walk into
the very presence of God through Jesus Christ.
Which we can do.
And that's something that was
a whole new concept.
And part of that relationship with God is prayer.
We can talk to him.
And we can share our hearts with him.
And so Paul says that: In your life
as Christians, Thessalonians,
as you're waiting for the
coming of Jesus, be in prayer.
Allow of prayer to be a part of your life.
And then he goes on to say, thirdly, thankfulness.
And again a very succinct statement:
...give thanks in everything; ...
Again that's part of our worship.
Now Christians I think make a mistake
here in interpretation.
Paul is not saying: Give thanks
for everything that happens to you.
In other words, one of the worst things
I think a Christian could ever say
to another Christian who's in deep sorrow
and who's in a result of a tragedy.
When they come in and say:
Well have you learned to thank God yet for it?
That's so insensitive.
Because that's not what Paul is teaching.
What Paul is teaching, and others are
teaching in Scripture, is that
we can give thanks in everything to God,
that he will never forsake us.
He'll never leave us.
His grace will always be there for us.
And so he is saying:
That's part of our worship.
Lord, I thank you for your grace.
And as I was thinking about that,
I was thinking about the apostle Paul
who had a thorn in the flesh.
And we don't know what that thorn was.
But we know it was a very serious malady.
It may have been physical.
Some believe it was blindness.
It may have been psychological.
Maybe it was a bout with depression.
Or maybe it was spiritual temptation.
But he went to the Lord and he said:
Lord, please remove this.
And he said: I went three times:
Concerning this, I pleaded with the Lord
three times that it would leave me. ...
Whatever this was.
It almost appears that it had to do
with some type of satanic attack on him.
Because remember, he refers to Satan.
And maybe it was a satanic attack
in the midst of his physical difficulties.
We don't know:
...But [the Lord] he said to me, [Paul,]
"My grace is sufficient for you,
for my power is perfected in weakness." ...
And so Paul said, coming to that point
in his life where God said:
No Paul, but my grace is sufficient.
...Therefore, [he said,] I will most gladly boast
all the more about my weaknesses,
so that Christ's power may reside in me.
In other words, I will thank the Lord for this.
I will thank the Lord for the fact that he
will never leave me.
And His grace is going to be sufficient for me
until he takes me home to glory.
So Paul illustrates this worship experience
in his life in giving thanks.
Paul also deals with the word "prophecies."
And so he says, in relationship
to their relationship with God
through the Holy Spirit:
Don't stifle the Spirit.
Don't despise prophecies, but test all things.
Hold on to what is good.
Now we need to understand
that in the early days of the church,
they had no Scriptures like we have.
In fact the Thessalonians letter,
the 1st and 2nd Thessalonians letters
may have been the only letters
these believers ever read in their lifetime.
And so God had a way of communicating
with them through gifts,
particularly the gift of prophecy.
But not everybody used the
gift of prophecy in a proper way.
Some of them used it a very sinful way--
or a carnal way.
And so Paul said: I don't want you
to stifle the Holy Spirit.
But I want you to test all things.
Don't say: Don't prophesy, but check it out
because it may not be coming from God.
It may be coming from a person's own
selfish deceitful attitudes.
Or it could even be coming
from Satan's influence.
So be careful.
And once you understand what is really true,
then hold on to it. And God will help you
to discern that he is saying.
Here perhaps is the most significant part
of their worship. And that is
holy living. And he says:
Stay away from every kind of evil.
You see, that's worship.
And Paul summarized that
so beautifully in Romans 12:1.
You know, as I was thinking today
in this whole series of Principles that
I've done from Genesis to Revelation--
1500 Principles.
How many times have I gone back
to Romans chapter 12?
Many times because it is so basic.
It is so foundational, I've called this spiritual worship
because that's what Paul calls it.
This is really true worship.
This is foundational worship.
This is what really honors God:
Therefore, brothers and sisters,
in view of the mercies of God...
In view of what God has done for you:
...I urge you to present your bodies
as a living sacrifice...
Now think back to the Old Testament.
They offered sacrifices, right?
On the altar.
Lambs and goats and other
animals that are mentioned.
Living, but as believers,
we're not offering animal sacrifices.
We're offering ourselves
because of the one who became the sacrifice--
the perfect Lamb of God. And so Paul says:
...I urge you to present
your bodies as a living sacrifice,
holy and pleasing to God;
this is [What?] your [spiritual] worship.
And so after dealing with their relationships
with one another there in Thessalonica,
he deals with their relationships with God.
And here's the question for
Reflection and Response and application:
In what ways have you seen
some of these exhortations misinterpreted
and misapplied and what were the results?
Well I've already made reference to the fact
that there are some who misinterpret
what Paul is writing when he says:
Be thankful in everything.
And being insensitive about that.
Because it's very insensitive
for any one of us to ever say to anybody:
Have you learned to thank God yet?
Let the Holy Spirit deal with people's lives.
Be there. Be comfort[ing].
And sometimes it's best
to say nothing except: I'm here.
I'm with you.
I love you.
I really care about you.
Because bad things happen to good people.
And that relates to other
insensitive situations where
people have said: Well, you must be
in this condition because there
must be some sin in your life.
Again, how insensitive that is.
Bad things happen to good people.
And those are things that are
difficult for us to understand.
So we must be very careful
that we don't misinterpret some of these
statements from the apostle Paul.
Another thing we have to be
very, very careful of is this whole concept of:
Don't despise prophecies.
But hold on to that which is good [1Th 5:20-21].
And anytime anyone says: God has given me
a message to tell you. Be careful.
Be very careful.
Be very careful if you think
you've got messages for somebody else.
Because that could come out of yourself.
That could come out of influences
that are selfish.
Of improper influences that could be
something that is purely fleshly.
And by the way, people who say:
God told me to tell you.
Immediately within that statement
is an element of pride. That I have
a relationship with God that you don't have.
That's the implication.
And so we must be very, very careful
of those kinds of situations
within the Christian life.
And the wonderful thing is that we have
the Word of God available to us today.
And what we can do is we can look for wisdom
from the Word of God to share with people.
We can help them discover wisdom
in the midst of difficulties and trials.
We can look to the Word of God.
We can pray with them for wisdom,
allowing the Lord to speak
through the Word of God.
So we must be very cautious
with some of these statements.
Particularly in terms of these
revelatory concepts and statements
that were truly a part of the
New Testament church.
But thank God we have--because of
prophetic revelations, we have
the Word of God. Which God gave
primarily to the apostles
through the Spirit of truth.
So that we might have the
whole will of God in our lives.
So here, let me just repeat the Principle
that grows out of this passage:
To produce a mature church,
we must help believers
engage in proper worship.