More Than Conquerors

Opening Scripture

1 Thessalonians 5:5–11 (NASB 2020)

5 for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; 6 so then, let’s not sleep as others do, but let’s be alert and sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who are drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we are of the day, let’s be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. 9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. 11 Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, just as you also are doing.

Communion Scripture

1 Thessalonians 5:15 (NASB 2020)

15 See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek what is good for one another and for all people.

Sermon Notes

In 1973, I began what was called “Basic Combat Training” in the Army. The first week was pretty easy, as men arrived from all over the country assigned to our company. We had things to do like have our hair all cut off, receive many vaccinations, get uniforms and take aptitude tests. During that week, our instructors were mostly kind and friendly, acquainting us with how things would go in the weeks ahead. And then training began.

Those same instructors began to yell and scream at us as we got off the bus. No matter how fast we moved, it wasn’t fast enough. For the next 7 weeks, they called us names and constantly found things wrong. They made us stop the street and do pushups. They made us run almost everywhere we went.

When we arrived, we were from all different ethnicities, backgrounds and education levels. In 7 weeks, we had to be molded into a unit that stood together.

I thought about all this because Paul wrote this letter to a church that was as diverse as those of who went through army training together. They had Jews who decided to follow Jesus as their true Messiah. They had Gentiles, both Roman citizens and those who hated Rome. They had slaves as well as free people, poor and rich people. Paul himself was fairly young to his Christian faith. He had only followed Jesus a little more than 15 years when I wrote to the church in Thessalonica. This was earliest church letter he wrote, but he needed to write it because the church was in conflict. They needed to become a unit and learn to follow Jesus together. Today’s verses are the way they could all continue to grow spiritually.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NASB 2020)

Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, just as you also are doing.

A few things I have seen in churches:

Some people complain all the time and the leaders get together and criticize the complainers. BUT THEY DON’T LOOK FOR WAYS TO HELP!

Some people are suffering, but are afraid to talk about it. They fear being judged and told their suffering is their fauilt.

Some very talented people want to be on stage like celebrities, but they don’t care about those who look up to them.

Some people are simply overlooked because they are too old or too young.

A few people quietly go about their work of following Jesus, by encouraging and helping those in need.

God has a better way, but it requires much love and hard work.

1 Thessalonians 5:14–15 (NASB 2020)

14 We urge you, brothers and sisters, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15 See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek what is good for one another and for all people.

“Admonish the unruly”

“Admonish”: put an idea in someone’s mind; warn them gently.

“Unruly”: those who are out of order or out of place.

I loved to go fishing when I was a kid. My dad wasn’t able to take me as often as I liked, but I had an uncle who didn’t have a family of his own and he also loved to fish so I would go with him. One summer day we had been fishing on the river. It came time to go home and we had to climb a tall riverbank to get back to the truck. I was in the lead in some thick brush when my uncle suddenly pushed me from behind and yelled, “Get up there!” I was shocked because he had never done anything like that before. Why was he treating me like that? Once I was up the riverbank a ways, he said, “There’s a large rattlesnake down here and you almost stepped on it!

My uncle admonished me — he put an idea in my mind that day — because I was in a place I shouldn’t be. AND he may have saved my life!

Here’s something I learned.

We are all unruly sometimes!

If my uncle treated me like that all the time, I wouldn’t want to go fishing with him.

We must ALL be ready to help someone see the danger in front of them.

I like to put this another way. Sometimes I need a kick in the pants! You do, too! I usually don’t like it when it happens, but it makes a huge difference when I trust in the love of the one doing the kicking.

If all I do is tell people how wrong they are, they won’t listen when they really need me.

Encourage the fainthearted, help the weak.

You may remember this moment:

https://youtu.be/9ARuL3r99SA

(Please play this video on screen.)

Be patient with everyone.

“Patient” is the word for longsuffering.

1 Thessalonians 5:15 (NASB 2020)

15 See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek what is good for one another and for all people.

How do you know whether to admonish or encourage or help?

Simple answer: ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom. No answer is right all the time and it will take sensitivity to learn. However, if you always see what is good for each other, you will grow in trust and together will grow in the faith.

There is one very important part of this passage that we need to see. It is actually before these verses we just studied. I chose to put it last, for it is sometimes harder for everyone...

1 Thessalonians 5:12–13 (NASB 2020)

12 But we ask you, brothers and sisters, to recognize those who diligently labor among you and are in leadership over you in the Lord, and give you instruction, 13 and that you regard them very highly in love because of their work. Live in peace with one another.

At the beginning today, I told you about going to army training long ago. During training, we mostly didn’t like our instructors. I’m pretty sure they didn’t want us to like them. I had the opportunity to be around a few of them for some days right after I graduated from training and I discovered that they were just men who had a hard job and wanted to do it well. EVERY ONE OF THOSE INSTRUCTORS had been in the war in Viet Nam. Now I understand something. They knew what it was like to lie in muddy holes with bullets flying over them. They knew what it was like to stay alive when others around them were dying. They wanted to prepare us as much as possible to stay alive if we had to go.

This church has leaders who work hard among you.

They have experience in spiritual war and want to keep you from being hurt by the enemy.

They do this because they love God and they love you.

I ask you, Topeka Gospel Church to regard them highly in love because of their work.

Pray for one another.