1 Thessalonians 5:12-18 (Part B)

The Lord Jesus on the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, broke it, and said, Take ye, this is my body which is broken for you. He knew what was coming, every bit of it, no doubt. And yet there he is, I couldn't eat, I wouldn't be able to eat. Who got your last meal?

I'd be looking for an out. Well, the flesh, the spiritual me would be doing what he would be doing because the Lord would be giving me the strength to do it. But the carnal me, that one, the man without God can't understand this. In difficult circumstances, a believer should always rejoice, pray, and be grateful. Relying on our own flesh, this is impossible, but when we rely on the Spirit and aware of his power, we become useful in accomplishing his purposes. Nothing speaks more powerfully than this kind of walk with God.

Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Cross Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. But for now, please open your Bibles to the book of 1 Thessalonians, chapter 5, verse 14, as we join Pastor Rick. We have the Brute Squad. They gather for prayer in conference room one every Sunday morning, and they offer up prayers to the Lord.

And you may not see the impact when it happens, but you benefit from the results. And you find that their prayers are safeguards. They're bouncers. They bounce out of the church the notions of the devil before he even gets an idea. We want him to say, I can't get to them.

I can't get in there. They've got this wall of prayer up. They've got these Christians in there who actually love Jesus and everything he has to say and want it all. Those kind of people he can't defeat. He may kill them, but he can't defeat them. So verse 14, he continues, Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. Why does the world hate Christ with such language like this?

Why are they so huge? Jesus can't come into school. And you know, one of my brothers sent me a picture at one of the universities in town with a rainbow on it on these doors in the university that say safe zone. Safe from what?

The rainbow? I don't get it. It's getting so that we Christians are going to need a safe zone. Why do they hate us so much? Because their deeds are dirty. Their hearts are darkened.

I don't care what they call it. God has already spoken on these things. Thus saith the Lord, it is take it or leave it.

And just because you get away with it doesn't mean you are going to get away with it in the end. So I say again, what makes this so repugnant to the world? Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. Now we encourage our fellow believers to be strong when life's hardships are pressing on them.

What should we say? Now, now, be weak. Go ahead and give in. It's okay to blaspheme God when you're hurting like this. You first?

Of course not. Encourage them to be strong. Many times we do it from our own experiences. We've been there too. We've been there ourselves.

Somebody in our family has been. They're not idle words. There are times when encouragement is not appropriate, but silence is what is necessary.

There are times you just need to shut your mouth and don't offer an encouragement because God's not leading you to and the person's not looking for it. Again, I remember when my mom passed away, there was this man, not even a believer, but a noble man nonetheless. And he just put his hand on my shoulder and says, tough loss.

And the tone of his voice resonated. It was just what I needed and I didn't even know. I thought I was doing all right until he said that. Thanks, I'm going to cry in front of all my friends. I didn't do it.

I held it together. But anyway, warn those who are unruly. In other words, don't make me take my belt off.

That's how you warn somebody who's unruly, right? How else do you do it? I don't know.

So, of course not, not in that sense. Pastoral correction. They don't let you today. When they do something that's really foul in the church, they leave. They don't come back before you can get to them.

Then they go online and they tweet at you and they, you know, say mean things about you. And that's very sad to do that. So anyway, submit to what the Lord is doing. It does not emasculate you. It does not take anything from you. Quite the opposite.

It makes you bolder. Jesus taught us that he was a man of authority because he was a man under authority. I always do those things my Father wants. And so, why do you think he said that? He didn't need to hear it.

We need to hear it. We listen to that and we say, amen. And when you have been under authority, God gives you authority, your conscience is clear. You know that you're not a fraud.

You know how the system works. It's not honorable to rebel against everything, just to be rebelling against everything. Jesus was not a rebel. I know a lot of people try to make him cool. He's not a rebel. He's God Almighty in the flesh. And he came here to set it straight. What he did is dealt with that which was wrong.

He was not a rebel. No offense to my sons of the south. Couldn't say that up north. They were like, huh?

But down here, you're like, yeah, all right. So, Matthew chapter 14 verse 27, then Jesus said to them, all of you will be made to stumble because of me this night, for it is written, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. That is not only prophetic, it is proverbial.

It is a proverb that he is saying to us where there is no rule, where there is no leader, where there is no shepherd, where there is no ordination from God, there is a scattered flock, there is chaos, there is destruction. That's a great lesson that we have to know is in our Bibles and should be in us. And so, when we think about those in scripture who did not follow that, on the lessons, read the book of Numbers about all the trouble Moses had, his own sister Miriam. You know, Miriam was the woman in Israel. You know, when they crossed through the Sea of Reeds and the Pharaoh's army was wiped out and, you know, Miriam picked up that tambourine and began to sing. Yeah, she's getting into it and the women followed and Moses wrote it down. But then came Zipporah, the wife of Moses.

Oh, no. This is the first lady of Israel, if you will. Now, we don't have first lady and first men here in the church. We're all just equal.

I say that because some churches do and we're kind of startled. What? It's my wife. What are you talking about?

Anyway, no harm taken by it. But anyway, back to, so when Miriam saw that, I think that was sort of the catalyst that caused her rebellion. And then she wins her brother Aaron on board and they rebelled. And so there's much and they're emblematic and beneficial to us all when it comes to behavior. And then, of course, there's Dathan and there's the sons of Eli, there's Diotrephes in the New Testament, Alexander, Hymenaeus, Philetus, all of these other ones, Gehazi in the Old Testament. They're all over. That's what happens when you rebel and may we not be in that group. And so he continues in this verse. He says, Comfort the faint-hearted.

Now, this is on the other side of the unruly. They're not looking to give you grief and trouble. They are experiencing grief and trouble and it may be lifelong in many cases. Those who struggle to trust God that are in the flock. They love the Lord. They're saved most of the time, I feel.

There may be exceptions here and there. But they are often terrorized by life. And, you know, Jesus spoke of those of little faith, allegopistos, you have little faith.

That's what he said to the disciples. This word here, the faint-hearted, is allegotsoukos, little spirits. They have a little spirit. They're not courageous and brave. They're not like Caleb. We can take these guys. I don't care if they're giant. I'm no grasshopper.

I'll go in there and whoop them up. And that was Caleb. But you've got the faint-hearted hiding.

Go get them, Caleb. I'll sharpen your spear. And that's an interesting point. No pun intended, you know, spear point. Anyway, the point that I just saw in that, you know, you might be a faint-hearted servant, but you can still serve. There's still things for you to do.

You can't fire an arrow or shoot an arrow. You can make them ready. And you can give them to those who can. And so these Christians who are in need, listen to what the Lord says through Isaiah the prophet when he changes the tone in the book, the prophecies of Isaiah. He goes from dealing with the sin and the shall nots and then a short story of Israel and King Hezekiah. And then he says, comfort, yes, comfort my people says the Lord, Isaiah 40 verse 1.

And from there on, he begins to present the Messiah and that this is going to be something to comfort the people. And he continues, Paul does here in verse 14, he says, uphold the weak. Who are the weak? Those who are strength less. They're not strong.

A little different from those who are faint-hearted, but they're both in need. And, you know, death will force all of us to leave weak, but then we get really strong, we who are saved. And so what is being taught in scripture is that we do not espouse rewarding laziness.

That is not what the scripture teaches. It does not foster, at the same time, it does not foster an environment of weakness. It does not encourage us to be weak, quite the opposite. And there's a great difference between upholding the weak and upholding weakness. We have a government that upholds weakness, this present government.

And I'm not saying anything that's not, they're not saying, they're not the same thing. We want to make strong those who are weak, but we do not want to make them stronger at being weak in the church or out. I think of Ittai the Gittite in the book of Samuel.

He was a man that was a warrior. And when Absalom, the unruly, pulled his little move on his dad, and David is fleeing the city, as he's going out, Absalom and his warriors are lined up there, and David says, it's not your fight. Just stay behind and stay out of it. You don't have to worry.

I really appreciate the, you know, you loving on me like this. And listen to what Ittai says. Some of the most remarkable words in scripture that we want to say to Jesus Christ. Tells us in 2 Samuel, but Ittai answered the king and said, as the Lord lives and as my Lord the king lives, surely in whatever place the Lord my king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also your servant will be. But he's not finished yet. The story's not finished in the next verse. It says, so David said to Ittai, go and cross over. Another, okay, come on, what am I going to say to that, right?

But listen to what the narrative is on this. Then Ittai the Gittite, and all his men, and all the little ones who were with him crossed over. See, they were the weak ones. They were the faint ones, or they were the ones that needed protection. He was not leaving them behind. Wherever he was going, they were going.

And with him, I mean, they weren't coming into the battlefield, but all the little kids, you know, hit their ankles, but that just wouldn't work. So I think it's just a beautiful picture. The very thing the rich man did not do for Lazarus the beggar was comfort him, was help him. We have no record of that.

The record is quite the opposite. And so Lazarus is a figure in scripture that was saved, but not sure-footed. But who was there?

Who was he left with? Scavenger dogs. Well, he got better treatment from dogs, scavenger dogs, than he did from human beings.

What a rebuke. Be patient with all, verse 15, he says. Well, patience is not the same thing as condoning evil, not at all.

Quite the opposite. It's being patient with it so he can deal with it. It's discipline. That's what it is.

It's waiting for the shot. Discipline is strength over weakness. That's the idea behind discipline. Now, you may be impatient with those who take the scenic route to make a point. You just tell me the point.

You just say that you want a cheeseburger and not give me a class on Velveeta or something else. Or maybe it's somebody who thinks personal hygiene is overrated. You know, they can be a problem. It's hard to have patience with people like that. Maybe it's a person that has a favorite subject. They're going to get to it.

No matter what conversation you talk about, they're going to work that conversation to themselves or something. Or maybe it's a pastor who takes too many points to make about people being impatient. So you have just been given an exercise in patience.

And by the way, you're also given an exercise in proving those. Especially if you're visiting here. You've got to be saying, who is this guy? Well, you should be saying that.

Is his doctrine right? Not if you like it or not. You might hate what I'm saying, but if it's biblical, tough luck.

Get it right. But if I am wrong, then you get yourself a foxhole. And that's what it comes down to. And it's sad that so many teachings exist in Christianity. You know John Wesley? He's the one that first put into print the words, we agreed to disagree at Judge Whitfield's funeral. And Wesley was a great man of God.

Had his issues of like, who doesn't? It just said, you know, there are things that Whitfield and I didn't agree on, but they were little things. They were not the essentials.

The essentials we were right on. Whitfield believed in a doctrine called Calvinism, and Wesley did not. Did I act like I spun that in my favor? Calvinism, here, Wesley.

Anyway. And so, you know, we're all susceptible to that. You know, I read a lot of great Christian men's writings, and there are issues I disagree with them on.

In my early days, I wanted to throw their books in the trash. I'm going to file this in the cult section. But now it's like, you know, I know why I believe what I believe. I know who this guy is. He loves the Lord. He's not trying to be wrong.

He's wrong here, because I say he is. And in my library, I can do that. You get your own library, you can do it. And that's, it's okay. And so you get Christians getting a huff over the silliest things.

You know, they use powdered milk over there, or some other goofy thing. Anyway, see that no one renders evil for evil. Revenge causes more revenge. And, you know, how many perpetual tribal hatreds there in the world that we don't know about, because they're two little tribes separated by a little stream or something, and they just hate each other.

It's a treadmill, this get-even thing. He continues in verse 15, but always pursue what is good, both for yourselves and for all. Two scripture verses to speak on that. Isaiah chapter 1 verse 17, learn to do good, seek justice, rebuke the oppressor, defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.

And that was to a nation that was so self-righteous and smug because of their religion that they were useless to God. And that's what Isaiah says. In fact, in that same section, he says, I don't want any more of your sacrifices. Don't be coming to me, worshipping me. Oh, let's sing songs with the Lord.

And you're out trampling on each other. And then Luke chapter 6, very simple. We call it the golden rule.

And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. It's not complicated. You don't want somebody picking your pocket.

Don't pick his pocket. Rejoice always, verse 16. This is the shortest verse in the Bible. Now, many of you think it's John 11, 35, Jesus wept. But in the Greek, actually, there's three words there, and there's more letters. But in the Greek, this is the shortest word. Now, there is no such thing as Bible trivia. So, I mean, the Bible is not trivial. I'm just having a lot of fun with that. There certainly is, you know. Who has the most verses?

Anyway, let's get off of this. So, just saying that, because I like to be right. And if you believe it was the other verse, I'm right and you're wrong. Don't try to get revenge because we just preached on it. So, he says, rejoice always to a church that was persecuted. Remember, Paul was chased out of that church. He got there persecuted. When he showed up, he was persecuted. And so, if anybody said to Paul, who are you telling me to rejoice always in the midst of persecution?

All he had to say, do you want to see my back? You know, I'll show you some persecution. He says to rejoice always. Now, we're not to rejoice in affliction, but within affliction.

That's the difference. Oh, and we don't say, thank you, God, for this black eye. It's just what I've always wanted for Christmas.

Kind of what, you know, all I want for Christmas is my two front teeth. But that's not what's being said. God is saying, okay, if you find yourself in this situation, I am there. That alone is worthy of rejoicing.

I will not waste your pain. And this is, again, one of the lessons from some of those Koreans who are escaping North Korean gulags. And they're coming and telling these stories about the persecution of Christians there. Talking about evil being exalted on earth, it is North Korea.

His own uncle, he threw them literally to starving dogs. Anyway, abrasive Christianity is a contradiction in terms. And so Paul is not saying, you know, be bitter always.

He's saying rejoice always. This is what the Lord taught Matthew 5. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice, be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Well, that's what we're doing right now. Instead of, you know, trying to get angry with everybody, we're supposed to rejoice. All right, they want to persecute the Christians. Thank you, Lord.

I'm in line with Daniel. He tried to outlaw his faith. And he took it to you in front of them all. Proverbs 17, 22. A merry heart does good like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones. If you're not rejoicing, your spirit is breaking. And that has a way of going throughout your body.

And the world has its pleasures. But it knows nothing of rejoicing always. It knows nothing of eternal evermore rejoicing in the kingdom of heaven.

And so we're supposed to live like we've already been there because the one who has been there has told us about it. And so we go on, verse 17, pray without ceasing. Well, this means we strive to maintain constant dialogue with God. Lean not on your own understanding, but in all things acknowledge the Lord, we are told.

And John's Gospel, chapter 14, verse 3, Jesus said, Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. If he weren't God the Son, that would have been a blasphemous statement worthy of stoning. Imagine me telling you, you believe in Jesus Christ? You should believe in Rick Gaston, too.

I mean, that would be insane. It's not even fun to say it. So this is a powerful New Testament statement for those who come and say, Well, Jesus never said he was God.

Wrong. The fact is declared. He says, believe also in me.

In my Father's house there are many mansions. If it were not so, I wouldn't tell you. He continues, I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am, there you may be also. And so we are supposed to live as though we believe that.

We are supposed to believe. When he says, I am with you always, well, we communicate with him always. Abiding in the presence of God is in the proximity of his shadow. Psalm 91, 1, He who dwells in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

He is never far away. That's how we think. Spurgeon said since he was a Christian, he did not remember 15 minutes going by when he was not mindful of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Verse 18. In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Some of you might need to know to everyone give thanks when they do, you know, hold the door open, give you some. Some people are rude. You know, you do something, well, they don't even acknowledge you.

Like, you should have done that. But anyway, that's not the Christian thinking. In everything give thanks. It does not say for everything give thanks, but in everything. The Greek word in, en, means just what it means in English.

In everything. The ultimate example of this, rejoice always, pray always, is our Lord Jesus Christ. There in 1 Corinthians, Paul, talking about his experience with Christ and the communion of the Lord, says this, the Lord Jesus on the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, broke it and said, Take, eat, this is my body, which is broken for you. He knew what was coming, every bit of it, no doubt. And yet there he is, I couldn't eat. I wouldn't be able to eat. Who got your last meal?

I'd be looking for an out. Well, the flesh, the spiritual me would be doing what he would be doing, because the Lord would be giving me the strength to do it. But the carnal me, that one, the man without God, can't understand this. And so there is the Lord giving thanks in the midst of this crucifixion. Then there are the disciples. You say, well, that was the Lord.

We expect such honorable behavior. Acts chapter 5 verses 40 through 42, when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus and let them go. So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. And daily in the temple and in every house they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. They wouldn't shut up. They went right back to, oh, you don't want me to preach Christ?

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. They preached it, and they preached it everywhere. How should we thus behave in the midst of, you know, where are the safe zones for the Christians?

Well, we make our own. We preach it. He continues in verse 18, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus. These commands here, rejoice, pray, give thanks, are summed up as a unit concerning God's will. This is what God wants. He wants us to rejoice. He wants us to pray.

And he wants us to be grateful because we understand what heaven is all about. This has been another edition of Cross Reference Radio with Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel in Mechanicsville, Virginia. Pastor Rick will continue taking us verse by verse through the book of 1 Thessalonians the next time you join us. Now, we want to be sure to tell you how you can get a free copy of this teaching. Simply log on to www.crossreferenceradio.com. That's crossreferenceradio.com. Our website has today's message available for you to download. Place a marker in your Bibles and join us next time as Pastor Rick will continue this insightful study through the book of 1 Thessalonians. That's next time on Cross Reference Radio.