God's Perfect Work Through Imperfect People

1 Thessalonians 5:23–24 CSB

Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. And may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will do it.

God’s sanctifying process

Work of God’s People基督的肢體

1. God’s Leaders教會的領袖

1. Labor

Paul mentions this: toil

2. Leading. Leader’s lead

And how are we called to lead:

by example, not domineering:

leaders lead. Our generation has a growing dislike for authority. We do not like people telling us what to do or how to do it. If you are from a western culture you are taught to have an immediate distrust in leadership. If you are Taiwanese, you understand what authority means.

But biblically part of God sanctifying you as a Christian, is placing you and me under Godly leadership in the local church. Leaders who labor by leading you by example, who labor through admonishing you in sound doctrine.

all of this takes place “among you”. It’s really important, Paul doesn’t have in mind that our spiritual leaders are in some other country in some other place, that don’t get to see us or interact with us, even with all the technology, he says that these leaders God has placed over you to care and shepherd, are among you.

1 Peter 5:1–3 CSB

I exhort the elders among you as a fellow elder and witness to the sufferings of Christ, as well as one who shares in the glory about to be revealed: Shepherd God’s flock among you, not overseeing out of compulsion but willingly, as God would have you; not out of greed for money but eagerly; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.

among you. This is call to honor and recognize leaders among you. There is a real temptation now to have leaders in some other country and we can see, well that’s my pastor or that’s my leader. But the New Testament gives us a picture of leaders and shepherds being among their flock. Have you willing put yourself under the leadership of the local church? Honor John and Rich, these are men who love you and we pray for you, and we are doing our best to labor and lead and admonish you as the church. Not because it is about us, because it is a part of God sanctifying His bride. The church. I would hope that as leaders we would treat you all as the bride of christ.

The celebrity pastor who has the VIP access, not the leader Paul envisions here. It’s a leader who smells like the sheep. Working on the farm. This is the leader God has called his pastors to be.

Share their lives with you: this is the picture of leadership in the local church. People are not an obstacle to ministry they are the ministry. (Checking my watch or phone, gives a signal that this is wrong)

3. Admonishing/warn: Instruct: the teaching of the word. We need to be under sound teaching. Sanctification takes place through the preaching and teaching of the word. This is the primary task of the preaching or teaching elder of the church.

A question we have to ask is “do you see and honor God’s placing of godly leadership in the local church in your life?” This is not new, but we all know if we want to lead we have to learn how to follow. IF you want to be a good leader who also have to be able to be a good follower.

He doesn’t say perfect leaders, only Jesus is the perfect pastor, but Paul is honest

The more that we rebel against this or run away from this, the more we will miss out on God’s sanctifcation in your life.

2. Each Other彼此

warn the idle

comfort the discouraged

help the weak

be PATIENT with everyone

Ministers: everyone. We are all called to do this kind of work.

“Keep the peace” live at peace as long as it depends on you.

We can receive something from anybody. There is a process to this (Take the log out of your own eye before you take the speck) we take this in context of the whole teaching of the New Testament. But Paul says a church that is being sanctified will walk out these commands.

Can this happen on a Sunday morning gathering? No.

None of us walk in to our gathering and our name tags put “Hello my name is Collin and I am discouraged”

Gospel Community? Maybe.

But what Paul is really calling for here is deep intentional relationships. Discipling relationships. It is our hope here at CityLight that every single one of you is in an intentional discipling relationship. Not because it’s cool, not because it works, but because it is the way God sanctifies and matures you as a Christian. We need each other.

Imperfect people-God is doing His perfect work of sanctification through imperfect people.

The most dangerous type of rock climbing? Free soloing. Where the climber attempts to climb the cliff with no support system or help, just himself and his own strength and wisdom. You know the most dangerous type of Christianity? Free-soling. Isolated Spirituality. Where we attempt to live the Christian life devoid of any type of support structures or accountability in our lives. God has so much for us as we commit to the local church. Paul practiced this, Jesus was an example of this.

So here’s Paul’s advice and my advice to you: if you want to grow and mature as a christian: find a local church that preaches the Bible, has godly qualified leadership, is making disciples and commit to these people and begin to walk these things out. You will be amazed at how God does His perfect work in your life and in my life through imperfect people.

Work of God’s Spirit聖靈的動作

Command: don’t stifle the Spirit.

Put out a flame, pour water on a fire. You and I have the capacity to

I think Paul is alluding two aspects of the life of the Spirit

1)the Fruit of the Spirit:

sanctification means growing in the fruit of the Spirit, not in the fruit of our flesh.

Galatians 5:22-23: Here is a question: name 1 situation where you do not need that kind of fruit? There isn’t any. So that means we are in constant need of the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Rejoicing always, being thankful, praying is all about the fruit of the Spirit’s work in your life. We need to be growing in that fruit. Which means you and I need to pray for the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. When I walk into a sermon. When I’m about to preach, do I just leave it all to chance? Well when I get up there, I’ll figure out what I’m gonna say? No there preparation there is a plan, I want to be prepared for the situation I’m walking into. It’s the same for your life: you don’t want to just walk into your day and leave it up to chance. You don’t want walk blindly into the situations that come to you during the day. What prepares us is the Holy Spirit. I wonder how many of us are waking up before we begin are asking the Holy Spirit, would empower to walk in your power and not my own today. Would you produce your fruit in my marriage, in my relationships, today. God has not left us without the resources to walk this out. We need the fruit of the Spirit. An increase of the Spirit’s fruit in your life: doesn’t mean that it is always going to look like springtime and fruit everywhere, but the point is that there will be fruit.

2) The Gifts of the Holy Spirit

Paul commands, not an option, do not despise prophecies.

One way that you can stifle the Spirit of God, one way that you can stunt your growth and maturation as a believer in Jesus is by despising prophecies. I want to unpack this. We are going to be talking about prophecy specifically but I want us to have in the back of our minds that prophecy is a piece of the overall gifts of the Holy Spirit. Prophecies.

Don’t despise: despise means to consider as worthless. Church sanctification, growth in your Christian life, means don’t think that prophecy is worthless. Don’t cast aside. Now why would this church be despising prophecies? Think with me for a moment. Why is Paul needing to tell them not to despise them. Look with me at 2 Thess 2:2 “not to be easily troubled or upset either by a prophecy or by a message alleging that the day of the Lord has come” Why are they being commanded not to despise? Because it seems that have had a bad experience with this gift. Either an immaturity in this gifting or a flat out false prophet. Now we know that Paul is not talking about Old Testament prophecy here. Because right after he says don’t despise prophecies he tells them to test, test what they are hearing. Now we don’t test Scripture. Scripture tests us. Scripture is infallible. However the gifts of the Spirit we know work through imperfect people again. This repeated. So he says you’ve had this bad experience either by immaturity or a false prophet, but don’t despise the gifts of the Holy Spirit in your life! Paul’s heart when approaches immaturity in the gifts of the Spirit, is not rejection, but correction. He does in 1 Corinthians, he does it here. Don’t reject simply because you’ve been hurt, but let’s correct what’s wrong here. How many us are skeptical, guarded, or even despising the gifts of the Spirit, not because of a biblical stance, but because of our experience? Paul’s appeal is that you and I wouldn’t despise this ministry of the Holy Spirit because it is needed for our sanctification.

The Gifts of the Spirit edify 1 Corinthians 12 and 14: that in order for the church to be edified, encouraged, we need each other to live out the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

The Gifts of The Spirit equip: Ephesians 4, when we are operating in the gifts God has given us, we actually grow into maturity.

The opposite of that, would seem, that if we stay in a place of despising these gifts, then we are at risk of impeding God’s sanctifying work in our life.

I’ll give you an example:

Give an example of the gifts of the Holy Spirit maturing you as a believer.

The Work of God’s Spirit: the fruit of the Spirit, and the Gifts of the Spirit.

Completed by God Himself神自己會完成

What God starts He will finish. There is someone who is more committed to your growth the you are? There is someone who is more committed to your sanctification than the church is? God HIMSELF! God himself is working through all these things in your life to make you more and more like Jesus.

God is doing His perfect work through imperfect people. God of peace Himself. Do you remember the command before in verse 13 “be at peace” I love how what what Paul commands is “be at peace, be sanctified” is actually already ours fully completed in Christ. God of Peace. The God who fully sanctifies.

"legalism is when we separate the Christian's "do" from Christ's "done" Jared Wilson

God brings it to completion. He who started a good work in you will bring it to completion. If you have the tiniest bit of fruit in your life, trust that the Holy Spirit is a deposit a guarantee that He will complete His work in your life.

Perfectly. God knows how to perfectly do His work in your life. God knows how to PERFECTLY sanctify your completely. Imagine trusting your artwork and putting it into the hands of someone who is an expert at finishing. Thats what you are doing with your life Christian. You are not leaving your holiness or maturity up to chance, but when we place our faith in Jesus at that moment, God begins this incredible work in your life. He uses the church, He does it by His Spirit, and ultimately He is working through all things, the good, the bad, to perfectly complete His work. Don’t resist this work in your life.

Is there someone this week that you can share this with, or teach this to? Let’s go!

You are not here by accident, you are not here by coincidence. So press into the relationships God has given you. Keep reproducing disciples in your life, continue to press into the power of the Holy Spirit.

In the backdrop God is doing the perfect work and will bring it to completion.