More Meat and Potatoes

Good morning!

One of my nieces has a gift for drawing and calligraphy.  Recently, she surprised me with a rendering of these verses:  1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.

16 

Rejoice always!

17 

Pray constantly.

18 

Give thanks in everything,

for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

I liked her work and the words so much that I bought a frame, and it now hangs in my bathroom vanity area.  (I tried to paste in a picture, but am having "technical difficulties".  I'll try to send it to Facebook around the time I post this blog to FB.)

Three verses, less than 20 English words, much impact!  Paul has been admonishing the believers in Thessalonica about how to live like Jesus, in a pagan land.  He writes, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, these last words before the benediction in verses 23-28.

Christians, especially young Christians, talk about "finding God's will for my life."  God, through Paul, has revealed His will in these verses. Although these are "the meat and potatoes" of following God's will, I often find doing these three things difficult, don't you?

Be glad at all times...ALL times.  God knew that we would find it challenging to be joyful in every circumstance, particularly the unexpected, the unpleasant, the grief-filled.  That is why the next command is to pray about everything.  When we are faced with all kinds of pain, we are to pray.

And, what are we to pray?  What was the example that Jesus gave us?  (Matthew 6:9-13)
"Our Father, in Heaven, may your name be reverenced and honored (hallowed)."
We are to first of all give thanks to the Father for His changeless character and attributes.  Even in the middle of abject horror, we are commanded to give God the glory, to worship Him and to "re-frame" our perspective.  God is in control. When we have an attitude of worship, submission and thankfulness, we are re-aligning our wills with the Father's will.  "Your will be done, on earth, as it is in Heaven."

Paul goes on with his final instructions in verse 19:

19 

Don’t stifle the Spirit.

20 

What does that mean?  to stifle or suppress the Holy Spirit?  There are several applications of this:

• Some non-believers stifle the Holy Spirit by rejecting Him, when He is drawing them to salvation.
• Believers stifle the Holy Spirit when He is urging them to become more like Jesus, and they say "no way", choosing instead to follow their own, sinful desires.
• Believers can also stifle the Holy Spirit by frustrating His work in others by exhibiting negative, defeatist attitudes, instead of encouraging their brothers and sisters in Christ.  Some bible translations use the word "quench" in place of the word "stifle".  The image there is of "stamping out a fire with your feet" or "pouring cold water on a burning flame".  We need to be careful about telling others how the Spirit is speaking to them, unless, of course, the fellow believer is hearing a message that runs contrary to the Word of God (the Bible).  In those cases, they are not hearing from the Holy Spirit and need our mentoring on the matter.

And finally, verses 20 and 21:

Don’t despise prophecies,

21 

but test all things.

Hold on to what is good.

This admonition simply means to hold all preaching, teaching and other forms of proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ (including Christian music) up to the standard of the Bible, the unchanging, without-error Word of God.

I've mentioned this personal anecdote in this blog before, but it's such a good lesson I'll draw on it again.  I once worked for a church as a musician.  This necessitated me attending worship services. One Sunday, the preacher stated from the pulpit that the Bible is not "infallible" (without error).  In fact, the Bible testifies about itself that it is "utter truth" - - - it tells the perfect truth about a perfect God and His relationship to sinful man.

If we believe that God "breathed out" the words of the Bible upon the writers, that the Bible is God-inspired, then we must also believe that it is free from error.  This belief is in keeping with the character of God:  if He is true, and He is (Romans 3:4) and if God breathed out all Scripture, which He did (2 Timothy 3:16), then, by extension, all His words are true.  The psalmist states, "The entirety of Your word is truth, and all Your righteous judgments endure forever."   (HCSB)  It would be a severe digression for me to expound further on this topic this morning; but, in the coming days, I will make a blog post from this topic, as it is foundational to the Christian faith.

Why is it important for the Bible to be the standard against which we measure all words of teaching, preaching and "prophecy"?  Because there must be a standard of truth.  How else are we to "test all things and hold on to what is good"?  By our own whims?  By the whims of the society that surrounds us?  No!  God forbid!  That is how the heathen live.

There is one more admonition in this passage; we'll look at it tomorrow.

Dear Father, I am so grateful that you did not leave us comfortless, but You sent the 3rd Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, to live in those of us who call Your Son, Savior and Lord.  And, your same Spirit breathed out the words of the Bible so that we could be comforted and guided in our Christian walks by Your very own words of truth.  Thank you!  In Jesus' name, amen.