1 Thess. 5 The Do's and the Don'ts

1 Thessalonians 5:12-28

Some Do’s and Don’ts

He, Paul, is urging the church to respect and to esteem these certain individuals who work among them.

Verse 12 - Who are the ones who are over the church, those who labor, admonish, instruct and or warn the church members.

There are two church offices: The church family must have spiritual leadership, and this leadership is vested in the pastor(s) and deacons. But it seems clear from the New testament that pastors are to lead in instruction or admonishing, to rule, or to direct the church with God’s Word.

A quote from Warren Wiersbe on this text:

The pastor, however, must lead the flock as God directs. Certainly he needs, and wants, the prayers and counsel of the people, especially the elected leaders; but all in the church must respect the leadership that God provides. Christians should: (1) accept their leaders (Eph. 4:7–11; 1 Peter 5:1–5); (2) honor their leaders, recognizing the work they do; (3) love their leaders; (4) and follow their leaders (Heb. 13:7–9, 17, 24). Whenever a church is not united, it is often because the pastor will not take the responsibility of leadership, or because the members will not permit him to lead. Keep in mind that leadership is not dictatorship. The leader sets the example, pays the price, and seeks to help others in Christian love.

Every church is to be a pastor/elder led congregation. All are held accountable to one another, under Christ and God’s Word. But we are to have this order in order to have peace.

Verse 13 - Be at peace among yourselves.

There is to be church leadership… and there must be church partnership. We must work together, with each member being a servant leader… laboring together for the benefit of the whole...

1 Corinthians 12-14 - and First Peter 4:7–11 reminds us that each Christian is a steward of a spiritual gift, and that we must use that gift for the good of others and the glory of the Lord.

There are wars and rumors of wars out there in the world. There is fighting and chaos going on out there. There is disorder and opposition out there.

Church: Don’t let that go on in here. Be orderly, be a family, and be at peace with one another as the church.

We may not be at risk of our local government and our local context destroying us today, here in Appling County, Georgia.

But we are at risk of destroying ourselves in here.

It is not suppose to be peaceful out there in the world. But it is supposed to be peaceful in here, as we all have one foundation, one goal, one focus, one life, one faith, hope and love in Christ. We are all about the Father’s business and the Great Commission… as we are all working together for the same Lord and for the same ends...

But what do we do? But we allow the evil one to deceive us, to pursue selfish ambitions, and to cause church disunity, and cause division and many problems.

What do we do? We fight against the pastors, the leaders and anyone else that disagrees with us. And this should not be.

And by the way: This should run off any Christian who is desiring to get a break from this world and to experience a taste of heaven. Why would they stay in a place that looks like the world?

When unbelievers come into a church gathering… they should experience a taste of God. That could draw them, make them mad, convicted, and break them down to repentance and faith...

But they should not be experiencing just more of the world and what it has to offer...

1 Corinthians 14:23-25 - If the church is chaotic, the unbeliever may say that those folks are insane. But if the church is operating, preaching and teaching as we should… The unbeliever or uninformed person will be convinced, convicted and driven to fall down and worship God, saying God is truly among you.

When a church is going church God’s way… We will get God’s results.

Verse 14 - We are all ministers. We are partners in this. We are in this together. We are a Body. We are a Team. We are to hold each other accountable, encourage, and serve one another.

Don’t be lazy while you wait on the Lord. Work hard for the Lord and for others. Remind others to work with their hands and work for the Lord with all their hearts until He comes. Encourage others, teach others, and preach to others… “Get up and get going!”

There is someone who is unruly, who calls themselves “a brother/ or a sister.” They may be careless with their words or actions. They are out of line with Christian living.

Confront them for Christ and warn them. They must be warned. For them, for the church, for their family, for Christ sake… They must be warned.

There is someone who needs help. There is someone who is struggling. Look for them. Get involved.

Be patient and gentle with the weak and fainthearted. Be patient, gentle and kind with those who are weak in the faith, and those who are overwhelmed, filled with anxiety and fear.

Come along beside them and build them up in the faith. Not everyone is as strong as you. Not everyone is as mature or as knowledgeable as you.

Help them. Serve them. Quit pointing fingers and offer a hand.

Verse 15 - See that no one repays anyone evil for evil… Watch yourselves and watch that others do not do this. This does not reflect Christ and it does not glorify God. Expose the evil, and call it for what it is. Confront it. But do not pay evil back with more evil.

Be holy. Do good. Doing good is confronting, rebuking, and correcting in righteousness at times. It is not returning slander with slander, gossip with gossip, steal for steal, or attack for attack.

Confront the evil. Don’t imitate it. Warn and Win the brother or sister over... or follow through with Matthew 18 - Church discipline. And this is not evil, but good for the health and life of the church.

Find ways to do good to one another. Find ways, create ways to bless and do good.

The Christian attitude and lifestyle is one of patience and love… never returning evil for evil...

Verse 16-18 - Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Walk with the Lord. Stay in constant communion. How? I am going through life, challenges, pain and trial… I will rejoice in the Lord. The joy of the Lord will be my Strength.

My heart and mind will commune with God always, staying in an attitude of gratitude for all that the lord has given and done for us...

Here I am… going through mountain top or valley experiences… My mind and heart will be focused on the Lord, I will rejoice in who He is, what He has done, and what He will do. I will talk to Him and run to Him always… thanking Him no matter what...

and I believe that as we do this… we will not “quench the Spirit...”

Verse 19- Do not quench the Spirit.

The word used here speaks of suppressing fire or a flame. The Holy Spirit is like a fire dwelling inside of us, and He can be suppressed… as it were.

Fire can represent zeal, passion, power, purity, and enthusiasm. Jesus was to baptize His followers with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Matthew 3:11).

Ephesians 4-5 speaks of not grieving the Holy Spirit but be controlled by the Spirit.

Sin - Bitterness, wrath, and anger, evil speaking, practicing sin, can and will grieve or quench the Holy Spirit in our lives.

It is like throwing water on the flame inside of you. And then the zeal, passion, and enthusiasm for the Lord dwindles down. Power to live the Christian life is not as strong, we become weak… and this leads to more problems.

Now… in the context… Paul may be connecting this with “the despising of prophecies...”

Verse 20 -Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast to what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.

Prophesying in the early church was a work of the Holy Spirit, and there were true prophets who spoke the word of the Lord during those days.

But there were also fake prophets… who would not truly prophesy… but they would proph-a-lie during those days. We still have some of this going on to this modern day.

Prophecy is the telling forth of God’s Word. It is giving God’s Word, God’s revelation, to others in human communication.

The Word of God is not to be suppressed, it is to be given.

The believers of that time did not have the New Testament, as we have it today… and there were real prophets mixed in with fake prophets...

To claim to be a prophet is to claim to be God’s spokesperson. In the Old Testament, you could be killed for being a false prophet

So what were the churches to do?

Do not despise prophecies. It may be God’s Word, it may not be God’s Word. Do not be so quick to shut your ears and shut your hearts to the message...

Listen to it and test all things. Test what is said with other Scripture. Be like the Bereans, in Acts 17. They listened to Paul and went home to study the Old Testament Scriptures.

What do we do today? Listen to the message, with the Bible in hand. We go home and study it some more, and we test all things to be sure that it is right.

There are still many today who will Proph-a-lie over you. Test all things with your Bible… Hold fast to what is good… and discard the rest.

When someone opens the Bible, and preaches or teaches us from the Bible… This person is God’s spokesperson… and all who are listening should listen and receive with great seriousness.

The Church is to - Examine and discern.

So: Quenching the Spirit, or grieving the Spirit, is closing our lives to the Spirit’s voice and leading. It is not following His lead and obeying the voice of God.

And it will have a negative affect on us.

And lastly - Abstain from every form of evil. Let the Holy Spirit flow in your life and make you more like Christ. Do not put anything vile before you. Let not the appearance of evil be on you.

God is working holiness in you. It is God’s will that we be sanctified and mature.

Love one another. Live at peace with one another. Exhort and encourage one another. Pursue what is good.

Rejoice in the Lord always. Do not stop praying. Cultivate an attitude of gratitude in your spirit so that you are giving thanks to God as a lifestyle...

Be ready for Christ’s return.

Verse 23-24 - May the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it…

Do we need to pray for order, peace, unity, forgiveness, are we grieving or quenching the Spirit within us today? Is something keeping your from growing in holiness today? Are we ungrateful? HAve we given up hope on the Lord’s return?

Lets pray.

Close